Aster Fall
by Rimnerel Ayasugi
Summary: After Oleander Summer, three years pass by quickly for Kenny and Tyson as they try to come to terms with what happened. Just as they are finally moving on, something happens to remind them of the oleanders they left behind. Final chapter up.
1. Chapter 1

Rimnerel: Hello everyone, it's me, Rimnerel bringing you the next chapter in my epic story of romance, drama, angst, and all that good stuff. Since I didn't have much to say, I just decided to leave a note and start off with this chapter. So you don't have to throw fruit at me for this!  
  
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The young man with brunette hair down to his shoulders brushed his bangs out of his eyes once more as he dressed for his morning classes. The hair he pushed out the way feel back into his eyes again. With a scowl, the brunette tucked them behind his ear again. Why didn't he just cut them like he planned to do two years ago? This made no sense that he was this irritated with his hair.  
  
"Kenny, Kain and Rei are here," his mother called from the bottom of the stairs.  
  
"Tell them, I'm almost ready!" Kenny shouted, tucking a wayward tuff of hair from sweeping over his eye again. With a growl, he grabbed the brush and forced the piece to stay behind his ear for a while. Looking up into the mirror, the young man, now 18 years old, nodded with approval at his reflection.  
  
Three years passed since that summer that seemed years ago. That special summer he met a young man by the name of Tala Ivanor during his stay with his relatives in his mother's childhood hometown. At first when Kenny arrived, he was doubtful he would have anything to do, let alone enjoy his summer there. That opinion changed when he met Tala, and his cousin, Kai Hiwatari.  
  
Kenny soon learned from his cousin Tyson that the two were the black sheep of the two, causing all sorts of trouble. Not to mention many rumors surrounded them, but those had little truth in them, as Kenny found out over time. Eventually Kenny became so entranced with Tala that he fell in love with the red haired older teen. Yet Tala was...  
  
"You took my heart and virginity with you," Kenny smiled almost bitterly. "The perfect way to end a summer." Kenny looked down at the picture on his dresser in a picture frame. It was of Tala leaning back against a tree with his eyes closed, while a cigarette hung from his lips.  
  
Picking it up, he ran his thumb over the picture, as a tear splashed onto the glass of the frame. They were all supposed to live together when both Kenny and Tyson graduated. After he fell in love with Tala, and Tyson fell in love with Kai...the two said they wanted to live together. But...  
  
"What happened that day?" Kenny whispered. "That day, that Tyson called me...what happened?"  
  
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{Flashback}  
  
_Kenny walked into his house after spending the whole day with Rei and Kain. Rei was still angry with Kain for sacrificing him to see the opening day for the movie, The Matrix. Kenny figured that until Kain did something extreme to get back on Rei's good side, there would be more than one day without a kiss from his favorite Chinese boy.  
  
"Well, I still have to say that Kain brought that on himself," Kenny shook his head, going up to his room to take off his shoes. Changing into a worn pair of cargo shorts, and a faded blue t-shirt, Kenny went back downstairs to the kitchen. "Mom, I'm home!"  
  
There was no reply from the woman, who was usually home when he came home from hanging with Rei and Kain. Looking around the kitchen, he found a note on the kitchen counter. Picking it up, he scanned over it.  
  
"Had to go check on your grandmother, should be back before dinner, if not, please heat up the food that I left in the fridge. And don't eat too much junk food before dinner you know it will ruin your appetite. Will see you later, sweetie. Mom." Kenny put down the note with a grin. It wasn't like he was like his cousin Tyson who tended to eat almost every two hours claiming that he was a growing boy and that he needed to eat that much.  
  
Going over to the fridge, Kenny opened the door and got a Pepsi off the door, then closed it back. Heading for the living room, Kenny flopped down on the couch, picking up the remote from the top of the sofa and cutting the TV on. Popping open his soda, he took a sip before placing it down to flip through the channels.  
  
He usually would already be up in his room on his computer, but...he really didn't feel like sitting in front of the screen like he use to. A lot about him had changed that summer. Slowly, he found that the world away from the screen of a computer had a lot more to offer him. Even a bit of TV could be educational if he found the right thing to watch.  
  
Suddenly, the phone rang, startling him. Nearly dropping the remote, Kenny quickly picked up the cordless that rested on the table behind the sofa and placed it to his ear. "Shinoda residence."  
  
"Kenny..." the voice on the other end cracked, as if straining to remain calm or something.  
  
"Hello?" Kenny frowned, wondering if it was Kain playing some sort of practical joke on him. "Whose this?"  
  
"It's me, Tyson," the voice on the other end sniffed.  
  
"Tyson? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Kenny inquired immediately.  
  
"I...I...they...they..." Tyson's voice trembled as he tried to form words, but end up crying again.  
  
"Tyson, what's wrong? Calm down and tell me!" Kenny said, wondering if it had to do with Tala and Kai. Kenny hoped that it was something else, that maybe the young man was playing a joke on him. It was a full minute before Tyson was calm enough to say a word, but by then the phone was taken from the young man.  
  
"Kenny...?"  
  
"Max? What's going on? What's Tyson crying about? Has something happened to Tala and Kai," Kenny asked, his heart beginning to pound in his chest. What was going on? Max was silent for a long minute before starting.  
  
"We just found out that two days ago...Tala and Kai were killed by their uncle. He went crazy or something and killed a maid, his wife, and them also. But someone ended up killing him, or he killed himself in the end. No one is really telling anyone anything around here. My mom told us today," Max said softly. "I'm sorry...Kenny."  
  
"They..." Kenny couldn't believe what he heard. It couldn't be true. In the background, Kenny could hear Zeo trying to comfort his cousin, who continued to cry. "How can everyone be sure? They wouldn't..."  
  
"Tala's blood was found spilled all over the house, along with bloody shoes that belonged to both Kai and Tala," Max said.  
  
"What about their bodies? If there aren't any bodies, there's a chance they escaped, right? They wouldn't let themselves be killed like that," Kenny argued, feeling the tears slip down his face.  
  
"I'm sorry Kenny, their relatives have already identified bodies that were found not too far from the scene. They took the bodies back to Russia to be buried. I'm really sorry. If you need to cry, I'll let you go. We just wanted to let you know, okay," Max replied sympathetically.  
  
"Thank you...Max..." Kenny said as both hung up the phones. For a long minute, Kenny sat on the couch, refusing to believe any of it. Lowering his head, he tried to force back the tears. For a long time, he sat there, trying to reason out that they had the wrong bodies that Tala and Kai made it out, that it wasn't their blood on the floor of the house that they would be heading up to Massachusetts soon.  
  
When the doorbell sounded, Kenny didn't realize he had gotten up to answer the door until a voice broke him out of his stupor. Looking up, he found Kain and Rei staring down at him with concerned eyes. It was then that he realized that it wasn't a dream. The tears falling as he clung to both boys wailing his heart out. It wasn't right, it just wasn't right at all.  
_  
{Flashback end}  
  
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"You know," Kenny said to the picture. "I really miss you...but...I can't keep hurting like this. I know you don't mean it, but...I think...I think I should move on, okay? Three years of this empty ache is enough, I know I can't replace you...but I have to move on. No matter what, I will always love you."  
  
Kenny wiped away the tears that trickled down his face before raising the picture to his lips and kissing his first love good-bye for the last time. Placing the picture down, Kenny went over to his door and grabbed the bag that was beside the door. Closing the door to his room, Kenny headed downstairs to the kitchen.  
  
Waiting in the kitchen for him was his two best friends. Rei was reading the morning paper, looking up at Kenny with a smile. Kain was drinking a cup of coffee while eating a slice of toast with egg and bacon on it. Kenny's mother was in the living room watching the morning news.  
  
"So, you stopped primping yourself to come down," Kain teased taking another bite of his toast, egg, and bacon.  
  
"I don't know why my mother keeps feeding you, she should know that wild animals always come back if you keep feeding them. Not to mention that you're already going to burst the seams of your pants with that fat ass of yours," Kenny replied in an upbeat tone. If it hadn't been for these two over the past three years, Kenny didn't know how he would have been able to take the news about Tala.  
  
The brunette watched Kain chock on his toast before glaring at Kenny. Rei lifted up his paper to conceal the smile that rest on his lips. "You little—"Kain was about to start before Kenny's mother walked into the kitchen.  
  
"Kain, would you like another slice of bacon before you leave?" Kenny's mother asked.  
  
"No ma'am, I think we should get going," Kain said, finishing off the last bit in his hand, continuing to give Kenny the evil eye.  
  
"You sure?" Mrs. Shinoda inquired.  
  
"I'm absolutely sure, but thank you for asking," Kain said getting up from his chair. "Okay you two, I think we should get going."  
  
"I think so too," Rei said, finishing up his cup of coffee, and also getting up from the table. "My first class is in half an hour."  
  
"All right then boys, have a good day," Mrs. Shinoda waved them off.  
  
"Bye mom. I have to work today, so I should be home by 11:30 tonight. You don't have to save me any dinner, I'll probably get something before I get off," Kenny said as Kain dragged him out of the room. Exiting the room, Kenny caught the stare that Rei was giving him. It always seemed that the male knew when there was something wrong, maybe it was just due to the fact they've known each other so long.  
  
"Hey Kenny...were you..."  
  
"I was just saying good...finally," Kenny interrupted with a short smile. "You don't have to worry about me anymore, I'm going to try to move on."  
  
"You sure, buddy?" Kain inquired.  
  
"Yeah, I'm positive. He wouldn't want me to remain this way forever. So, I'm going to live for the both of us," Kenny nodded.  
  
"Well, since you're moving on, I know a couple of people that would like to help you get started on your full recovery," Kain grinned.  
  
"I don't know whether you're majoring in accounting or pimping," Kenny said, getting from his friend's grasp. He, Rei, Tyson, and Kain were all attending the same college. Kain was majoring in accounting so when Rei got his degree in business and they opened their own restaurant, they wouldn't have to worry about anyone else handling their books.  
  
Tyson didn't know what he wanted to do just yet, though he thought about majoring in Psychology, probably because of Kai. Kenny thought that maybe he would get a degree dealing with computers, but then decided upon being a writer. So right now he was starting to get to work on a Masters in English. He also was starting to attempt a fictional account of his life and the events of what happened to him that summer, deciding to call the book Oleander Summer as a sort of dedication to Tala.  
  
Right now he was working at a Starbucks/book store close to his home. Tyson also worked there, both trying to gather up the money to get an apartment together, since the scholarships they had managed to get at while in their senior year of high school took care of almost all their educational needs. The two still wanted to make Tala and Kai's dream come true, so they could at least say they tried.  
  
"Hey, I just know people, nothing wrong with that," Kain said as he opened the front door and pulled out his keys to his 1997 Pathfinder, a present from his parents for moving out of the house into a dorm on campus with Rei and going to college. Kenny just figured they were grateful to get him out finally.  
  
"Strange people might I add in," Kenny said. "Remember that girl you thought would cheer me up, then she turned out to be possessive and I had to change my number three times?"  
  
"Well...she seemed sweet at the time," Kain said.  
  
"Yeah. Don't do me any favors please," Kenny begged.  
  
"Fine, suit yourself. I'll leave alone," Kain nodded, opening the driver's side of the car and getting in. Kenny seated himself in the back, Rei sitting up front with Kain, of course.  
  
"Thank you," Kenny praised.  
  
"Even though," Kain started putting the key into the ignition. "Maybe you should just chill for a while, you know. Just let things flow until you find someone."  
  
"That's what I was intending to do anyway," Kenny countered. "Now stop giving me that mother complex and drive before we're all late."  
  
"Fine you little bastard, I'll drive!" Kain said, glaring at Kenny from the rear view mirror. Kenny looked out the window with a smile, knowing that he probably wouldn't have lasted as long without them both. No matter what, they were always there for him.  
  
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Okay, this chapter is done finally. And before I see fruit flying, I just want to let everyone that things will not be that simple, but you'll all have to wait a while before you figure out what I'm doing. Okay, now I will say good-bye to you all for now. 


	2. Chapter 2

Hello everyone! I actually found time during school to work on this thing!! Since my Creative Writing teacher gave my class some free time in the library to check out poems and stuff, I'm sneaking in this time to write and say how much I thank everyone for reviewing Aster!

And okay, I want to tell everyone this now so I'm not threatened anymore. Tala and Kai are alive, I didn't kill them, so there is a reason for them disappearing, that will come a little bit later. So, for now, let's just enjoy the present until I get back to those two, this chapter starting up on the note with Tyson.

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The young man with navy blue eyes pulled his navy blue hair into a loose ponytail to keep it out his way as he continued to take notes as his professor went over the cognitive and emotional style of the biological basis of behavior. Looking up to the slide on the projector, Tyson studied the graph carefully before writing more notes. The other kids in class were either half asleep or already asleep. Their teacher had been lecturing for a complete hour and a half and they still had fifteen more minutes before the class was over.

"So the left hemisphere of the brain analyzes sequences and details and the right side deals with holistic processing involved in solving problems?" inquired a girl who was sitting a row down from Tyson.

The professor, Mr. Ronald Lashley, stopped his lecturing for a moment to turn his eyes on the girl. Tyson found that Professor Lashley was actually more interesting than most of the students in his class thought. A smile came to the professor's lips as he nodded. "That is in fact correct Miss Bates."

"So is it also true that they control emotions?"

"Some studies have proven that they have," Professor Lashley remarked.

"So, behavior is heredity in the aspect of certain emotions being common traits?" the girl inquired.

"Not exactly," Tyson spoke up. Both the girl and their professor turned eyes back to Tyson. "It's true that behavior seems heredity because some psychologist believe that certain traits can carry over from parent to child, but most times behavior stems from the sort of environment, care of that person, and events that an individual is exposed to. A certain type of environment can also decide a person's emotional reactivity and temperament."

"How so?" blinked the girl.

"Studies have shown that people who have more left frontal lobe activity tend to be more cheerful, sociable, and a higher level of self-confidence while right frontal lobe individuals are easily stressed, more suspicious, tend to become upset more. Why do you think that is?"

"Parents?"

"No. Think back to the whole nature versus nurture argument. For example, if you put a left-brain person in a situation that forces them to become right brain, that has nothing to do with heredity," Tyson explained.

"Such as a veteran from the Vietnam War?" inquired Professor Lashley.

"Exactly," Tyson nodded. "Let's say we have men from positive background who served during the war face great deals of stress with their lives being in danger every minute of the day. Not knowing when an attack would come, or if they were the next to die may have suppressed traits that stemmed from left brain activity they had before the war, then after the war, the stress never decreased. That person now antisocial, suspicious of those around him, and maybe even angered by the slightest thing because their brains shifted from one hemisphere to the other due to the environment they were subjected to for those few years."

"Excellent analysis, Mr. Granger," his professor said with a smile. Switching off the projector, the man cut the lights back on. "Okay class, your assignment for tonight is to read chapter five tonight and make notes for the class discussion that will take place next class period. I'm letting you go early today. You are dismissed."

The few students that were asleep woke up, looking around seeing that other students were getting up to leave. Tyson stuffed his notebook back into his bag, gathering up the rest of his material and was about to head out to leave when he found his professor walking towards him with a smile. Tyson returned the smile, standing up once his things were in his bag.

"And how is my brightest student today, Mr. Granger," Mr. Lashley remarked.

"Fine, I suppose," Tyson shrugged. "The material today was interesting as always."

"I'm glad you found the lesson so educational. So, have you finally decided to go for your degree in Psychology? What branch are you planning to go into? I think you would make a very good developmental psychologist or maybe a consulting psychologist perhaps?" inquired Professor Lashley.

"Actually, I narrowed my choices down between divisions eight, twenty-four, thirty-seven, thirty-nine, forty-three, and fifty-four," Tyson smiled. "I figured that if I plan on understanding the study in a whole, start from the beginning and work my way up."

"That sounds like a very good plan, Tyson. You know if you ever want to discuss any topic with me, all you have to do is get in contact with me," his professor said. "And you can count on me to give you a good report when you go for your Bachelors. You've actually made a lot of progress from when you first started."

"Thanks a lot sir, I really appreciate you saying that. I should be getting to my next class soon. And I promise to take you up on your offer one day," Tyson grinned as he headed down the stairs and out the door. When he first started taking Psychology, he was nowhere near as attentive to details as he was now. He figured it was due to the fact he hadn't coped with what happened over three years ago with Kai and his uncle. Every now and then Tyson found himself slipping back into depression, but he knew that Kai would not want him to shut himself up in a ball of hurt like he was doing.

In fact, the only thing that brought him out of his stupor was Professor Lashley. The thirty-six year old professor not only had a degree in developmental psychology, but a Masters in Educational Psychology, Humanistic Psychology, and division twenty-five, which was experimental analysis of behavior.

Every time he came to class, he found that there was so much he could do if he got in this field of study. Maybe he could help a kid that was like Kai and Tala so they didn't end up like the two. The more Tyson thought about the idea, the more he yearned to make it come true, so now he studied and learned as much as he could.

Eventually, Professor Lashley noticed Tyson's enthusiasm and helped the teen get a scholarship to make his dream come true. In return, Tyson shared a bit of his reason with his teacher, who said that he could do anything he set his mind on. So from that day on, Tyson became one of the most attentive students in his class. From time to time his classmates actually sought out his help in understanding the material. It was a complete change from when he was younger and he was the one seeking out someone's help. He supposed that summer made him grow up and open his eyes.

"Hey Tyson! Tyson, wait up!" someone shouted behind the blue haired teen. Turning his attention to another teen with wild brown hair, highlighted with red in the front. His bright green eyes focused solely on Tyson.

"Hey, Ozuma, I thought you would sleep through next period," Tyson joked, as the other approached. The other was a classmate of Tyson's that needed help with the class almost every other day.

"Is it my fault that I hate lecture classes," Ozuma frowned, falling into step with Tyson. The teen was maybe just a touch shorter than Tyson, so when Tyson looked over, he also had to lower his eyes to meet the Ozuma's. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me study tonight?"

"Tonight...well..." Tyson thought.

"Come on, Tyson, please say you don't have anything to do tonight. I don't think I will be able to get through this course without serious tutoring. Since getting your help, I've done much better on tests," Ozuma begged.

"I still have to work today, I don't get off until eleven tonight. Unless you plan on staying at the store with me until then, I can't do."

"What time do you go in?" Ozuma inquired.

"Five to eleven tonight," Tyson responded.

"But your last class for today is at three, right? Well, my last class today ends ten minutes to three. I'll wait for you, then for a while you can torture me by pumping information into my empty head," the green eyed teen chuckled. "So what do you say?"

"I suppose that can work," Tyson nodded. "It will take a while to fill your head anyway. Maybe if you went to sleep some nights instead of staying up and partying, I wouldn't fall asleep in class and maybe you would retain something. That's exactly why I wasn't staying on campus my first year here."

"All my time isn't spent at a party...just all my Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. The other three days I'm like any other freshmen on campus," Ozuma grinned.

"Hung over?" Tyson simpered.

"Hell yeah," Ozuma laughed. "Oh yeah, Tyson, I was wondering, do you have anything to do this weekend? My cousin said that he could get me tickets to any movie of my choice all I had to do is ask. I thought that I could take you out for all the help you've given me these past few weeks."

"Well..." Tyson started.

"Tell me later, I have to get to class before I'm late again! Bye!" Tyson watched his friend race off across the campus for his next class. Shaking his head, Tyson continued on to his World History class.

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Tyson looked up from his break in between classes to find Kenny, Rei, and Kain sitting down at the table he was eating at. "Well, what do you three want?"

"What do we want?" Kain exclaimed. "You know, you and your cousin are about to pluck my last nerve with your saucy attitudes."

"You're the one that started it, this morning," Kenny reminded him. "If you hadn't said a word about my primping myself, I wouldn't have said that your ass was fat enough to bust the seams of those pants."

"Look here, you little evil bastard, if you don't stop staring at my ass..." Kain started.

"Who would want to look at that blimp you call an ass anyway?" Kenny finished.

"Rei, you don't mind that I kill him now, do you?" Kain said.

"No, I think we need him still," Rei chuckled. Turning his attention from Kain and Kenny, Rei looked over at Tyson. "So anything eventful happen today?"

"Uneventful, like most other days. Well, besides the fact that Ozuma pleaded me to help him with studying yet again. I told him that if he studied more than he partied he would get the material. But of course, he will never listen to me," Tyson smiled, picking up another fry to eat.

"Tyson, can I ask you a question?" Rei said.

"Sure, go ahead," remarked Tyson remarked, munching on the fry in his hand.

"By any chance, do you like Ozuma?" Rei said, tilting his head to the side. Tyson, who ended up choking on his fry, stared at Rei, while Kenny patted him on the back, until his cousin stopped sputtering.

"What sort of question is that?" Tyson flushed. "I mean, sure I help him out a lot, but that's only because he's a nice person and a good friend, but there's nothing like that going on between us."

"No chemistry at all?" Kain said, sipping on his Coke.

"No chemistry. I'm sure even if he likes guys I'm not his type, and he's not mine," Tyson stated.

"Hey, don't count yourself out of the race," Kain said. "After all, he keeps coming to you for help."

"Maybe because we're in the same class, genius," Tyson rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure there are smarter girls in your class that he would have more fun talking to if he isn't gay than begging you for help all the time," Kain smirked. "I mean, we've known you for a while Tyson, and frankly, if I was in your psychology class I would be afraid to ask you for help on anything."

"Are you trying to say I'm stupid, Culbert," Tyson glared. "For your information I'm one of the brightest students in that class."

"You shouldn't confuse those blank grins for being bright," Kain teased.

"Oh shut the hell up," Tyson said. "Back to the point that I was saying before, I don't—"

"Hey Tyson!" The blue haired teen was stopped in mid sentence finding the topic of the conversation running up to the table. Noticing the other three that sat with Tyson, he gave them each a nod. "Hi guys."

"Hello Ozuma, I thought you had class right now," Rei inquired.

"We had a test today, I finished early and was about to grab a bite to eat when I saw you guys. So I decided to come over because I needed to talk to Tyson about something," Ozuma said. "Oh, by the way Kain, heard Miriam needs help with the assignment for your chemistry teacher gave or something like that."

"Why is it that I keep forgetting that Miriam is your half sister?" Kain sighed. "Tell her I'll call her tonight to find out what she needs help on. I'm sure the only thing she's going to ask me about is whether or not Rei's fine and all...or to go out with Salima..."

"If I see her between now and when I go back to my dorm I will," Ozuma said. "Oh yeah, Tyson, from this morning. So, what about that movie?"

"Movie?" Kain asked interestingly, giving Tyson a sly look, though Tyson turned his eyes away. "What's this about movies?"

"It's nothing much," Tyson said. "I haven't had much time to think about it, Ozuma, I'll give you an answer later, okay?" Tyson knew that once Ozuma left, Kain was going to make a big deal out of it. It was just a movie there was nothing special about one of his friends getting free movie passes and asking him to see a movie. It didn't mean that Ozuma liked him in that way, it just meant that he appreciated what Tyson was doing for him, and this was a way to pay him back for all the help. It was nothing more.

"Um, sure. Well, I just came to say hi, I'm going to get some food now. Bye guys." As quickly as he was there, he was gone, leaving a questioning stare on Tyson from three individuals.

"Movies huh? What's that about?" Kain grinned.

"He just asked me if I wanted to see a movie, nothing more," Tyson stated.

"I think there's more than that. If I didn't know any better, Ozuma likes you."

"In this case, I think Kain is right," Rei agreed. "I'm sure that he appreciates your help, but taking you out to a movie? That's more on the lines between courting and friendship. I think you should accept. Don't you agree, Kenny? Think it's time for him to move on too?"

"What do you mean too?" Tyson stared at Kenny who was looking at a point just above Tyson's head. "Chief?"

"Well...I had to move on," Kenny said quietly. "I think three years is more than long enough to keep holding on. I know the pain will never really vanish, but...remaining to hurt like we've been doing isn't helping either of us. I said my good-byes this morning."

"You..." Tyson lowered his eyes, understanding what Kenny was saying, yet in a way he wasn't agreeing with it. He didn't want to say good-bye to Kai, a part of him still needed to pretend that things would get better, that one day Kai would appear with that devious smirk on his face saying that he took a long detour on his way up here and that he was sorry for keeping Tyson waiting.

"I know you think that I'm burying things too quickly, but is three years really that short a time to allow this bleeding pain to continue to flow?" Kenny questioned, raising his eyes to meet his cousin's. "Haven't we both cried enough?"

"I don't know if I can just..."

"It won't be easy," Kenny smiled. "I don't know if I'll be able to do it today, even if I said my good-byes, it's still going to take me a while to really move on. So, I understand if you're reluctant to walk away. I just want you to know that I'm sure Kai would never want you to keep going like this."

"I know. And I know that eventually, I may fall in love again," Tyson sighed.

"And you have the perfect opportunity right now," Kain added in. "If Ozuma is anything like his half sister, he won't be afraid to tell you how much he likes you. Isn't that right, Rei?"

"You want me to ground you, don't you Kain sweetie?" Rei replied sweetly. "After all, it was all your fault for that last stunt that she hasn't left me alone."

"What? Are you still angry? That was three years ago!" Kain said.

"Oh, but it's still fresh in her mind," Rei countered. "Just last week she asked me when we could go on another date."

"Really?" Kain chuckled.

"Yes really. And do you know who's to blame for this mess?

"Kenny?" Kain blinked.

"Like hell I am," Kenny glared. "Your fat ass got you in this mess alone. You were the one that wanted to see The Matrix, remember. Rei and I were along for the ride."

"Look, you call my ass fat one more time and I swear I will pop your balls off," Kain growled.

"For one you stay away from my balls, I don't know what you do with your hands when not with Rei," Kenny wrinkled his nose up.

"And secondly, I have to agree, you do have this huge ass. What do you eat for breakfast, bricks?" Tyson laughed. The two cousins watched Kain ready to get up and kill them both when Rei but a hand on his shoulder.

"We still need them," Rei replied amusingly.

"Both of them?" Kain questioned. "Can't I—"

"We need both, I'm sorry."

"Damn," Kain swore.

"Boys, stop calling Kain fat. There is nothing wrong with having something for me to grab onto at nights," Rei said simply, a look of horror coming into both Kenny and Tyson's face. A wide smirk lifted the corners of Kain's mouth as he leaned over, kissing Rei on the cheek, while continuing to stare at the two cousins.

"Thanks for saying that baby."

"Thank you for the mental images," Tyson said, pushing his food away.

"I'm going to have nightmares for the rest of the year. Did you have to traumatize us, Rei?" Kenny shuddered. "I'm going to the bathroom to hurl up lunch now."

"Hey, I can't let you keep picking on my Kain like that," Rei grinned.

"Yeah, but did you have to kill any sex drive we will ever have again," Tyson gagged.

"You shouldn't exaggerate Tyson," Rei grinned. "I'm sure that before long you and Ozuma will spend lots of nights doing what Kain and I—"

"Enough please!!" Kenny begged. "He's starting to rub off on you. Wait, never mind what I said." Shaking his head, Kenny looked at his watch. "I have English in fifteen minutes, I'll see you guys later."

"I think Kain and I are going back to our dorm for a while since our next classes aren't until three," Rei grinned.

"And I think I'm going to bang my head against a brick wall," Tyson said. "My next class isn't until thirty minutes from now. I think I'm going to head to the library to read up on tonight's lesson for psychology."

"Well, just remember Tyson, Kenny has a point in what he said. Take a chance with Ozuma and see if he's into you or not. If he is, then give it a try I'm sure that it can't be as bad as you think. And I'm sure that Kai would want you to move on instead of hurting. So...just keep in mind that something interesting might come from this," Rei advised as Kain pulled him up from the table.

"I guess so," Tyson smiled. "I'll see you guys later."

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Okay, I'm done for today. My brain told me this is all you can have because it shut down. I plan on making the chapters longer as you see, but it's actually taking more time to do so. Maybe by the fifth chapter I'll be up to thirteen pages. Well, let me get going. I'll see how soon I will be able to update with school and homework. Later!!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay...hi everyone! (Dodges the random objects that were thrown at her.) Um...I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to let this one sit for as long as I did. Believe me, I tried thinking about it, really I did. But here's the next chapter, hopefully this will sate your appetites until I figure out my major plan.

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Tyson looked up from the text in the Psychology book to watch Ozuma study Tyson's notes from the class period that morning. Tyson's eyes flickered over the other teen's features slowly. How his hair swayed in the slight breeze that came through reminding Tyson that is was about to become winter in no more than a month and a half. Tyson also noted the soft curve of Ozuma's chin, the tip of his nose, even...how his lips made the cutest curve whenever he smiled or even frowned.

Stopping his train of thought for a minute, Tyson blinked. Wait...did he just think about...Ozuma's lips. On that subject now, why was he now noticing things about Ozuma like the beautiful shimmering aqua glistening in his eyes? Clearing his head for a moment, Tyson frowned. Could he already be starting to like Ozuma more than just a friend?

He still loved Kai that was obvious. He would never want to forget his first love, someone he wouldn't have minded sharing his life with no matter what sort of hardship they had to go through to be together. So why was...why was he thinking about Ozuma on a higher basis than their relationship currently granted. They were friends, nothing more, nothing less. He doubted anyway that Ozuma was even into guys.

'But what if he is?' his brain told him. 'Remember, not too many years ago you were into girls, or thought you were and you said you didn't like guys, but look how wrong you are.'

His brain was right, he did believe he liked girls for a long time, but he did have to remember that somewhere in his subconscious mind, he did like Kai. That was why he didn't resist Kai when he kissed him that summer three years ago. That was why he loved everything about Kai, why at times he seemed jealous for no obvious reason, though deep down inside there was a reason. Maybe...Ozuma was like that, subconsciously in love with Tyson. Or maybe Tyson was just crazy.

"Tyson?" Ozuma looked up from the notes to find Tyson looking at him. For a minute or two, Ozuma had realized that the other was staring at him. Maybe in thought or maybe because Tyson liked the way he looked, who knew. "Tyson, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Tyson looked up from his thoughts to find Ozuma looking at him with a concerned stare. "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"Are you sure, Tyson? If you don't feel up to helping me, I will understand. Are you sick or something?" Ozuma inquired.

"No, I'm fine," Tyson assured, turning his eyes back to his textbook. "So where were you stuck at?"

"Well...I was actually hoping you could help me with the entire lesson that Lashely preached today," Ozuma grinned. Tyson stared at his brown and red haired friend as the male continued grinning at him. Eventually Tyson shook his head with mocked exasperation.

"And how do you expect to pass this course if you keep falling asleep?" Tyson said humorously.

"That's where I have the greatest study partner in the entire class on my side. With you pumping knowledge into my brain, I'm bound to pass with a B or maybe even higher!" Ozuma explained.

"Is that so," Tyson chuckled as he continued shaking his head. So that's how it is? Well, I guess that we can work something out, Ozuma. But you know that we only have about a month and a half to go before the semester is over."

"What's today?" Ozuma blinked.

"That would be October 9th. So, you plan on trying to do better before the semester ends or what?" Tyson wondered, putting his pen down to look into Ozuma's aqua colored eyes, the sun causing the spheres to shimmer slightly. He watched the teen place his hand under his chin thinking like he tended to do often.

"October 9th huh? And when does the semester end again?" Ozuma inquired.

"December 18th," Tyson responded.

"Well, I still have plenty of time to goof off before having to get serious and do some work so I can pass," Ozuma grinned.

Shaking his head, Tyson couldn't help but think that Ozuma was really a nice person and would be fun to have as a boyfriend...but still a part of Tyson did not want to let go just yet. It may be kind of selfish, but he didn't want to lose his memories of Kai. Yet...maybe Rei, Kain, and his cousin were right and he needed to move on. Hadn't he mourned Kai's death enough by now?

Three years was no short amount of time, and he was tired of waking up some nights just to find tears in his eyes, realizing he dreamt about Kai leaving him all over again. Maybe Ozuma could fill in a gap that had been left wide open for far too long. Maybe he should give his friend a chance, if Ozuma really was into guys and decided to ask him out. Who knew, things between them may end up to be nice.

"Tyson, are you sure you're okay?" Ozuma said again, seeing Tyson go back into his reflective state. "Don't tell me I'm starting to rub off my habits on you."

"No...I was just thinking about some things that's all," Tyson smiled.

"Like what?" Ozuma questioned, his eyes studying Tyson carefully.

"Not much, you know, just the normal stuff that goes on in the head of someone who worries about getting good grades," Tyson teased.

"Hey now, I'm worried about good grades, I just haven't decided what I want to do with my life right now. Before I transferred up here to go to school, my parents were always telling me I had to do good to become something that they could be proud of, but I got to thinking, no matter what I choice to do, shouldn't they be proud of me still," Ozuma said. "So, Tyson, you still haven't given me an answer."

"About the movie?" Tyson smiled.

"Well yeah. Have I asked you for something else between now and this morning?" Ozuma raised a brow. "Please tell me if I have, I can't get rid of this habit of hounding people down and shooting off random questions they are likely to kill me for." The grin on his face stretched even further across his handsome face, as he peered across the table at Tyson.

"No, you haven't asked me any other questions," Tyson laughed.

"So what about that movie?" Ozuma wondered.

"Well...I have to work every day up until Saturday," Tyson said.

"Then I'll pick you up Saturday evening then. I have two classes in the mornings. So is this a yes or no because I can always find some cute girl that wouldn't mind coming to see a free movie with me?" Ozuma teased. "Though I don't think I would find as many girls as cute as you."

"Are you flirting with me, Ozuma?" Tyson inquired quietly. Could Rei and Kain really be right when they said that Ozuma had a thing for him? Maybe he was just joking around. Or maybe he could really be serious about this.

"Are you flirting back?" Ozuma countered with a grin. "Or would you prefer that I shower you with gifts so you will continue to help me with my Psychology work?"

"Ah, I see what this is about. Fine, you can pick me up on Saturday then," Tyson said, knowing he was foolish to think that Ozuma was gay and had an interest in him. Tearing a sheet of paper out his notebook, Tyson wrote down his address and phone number on the sheet and slid it over to Ozuma. "There, my address and phone number, so you don't get lost."

"All right, so Saturday it is."

"Now, should we get back to pumping information in your brain, or are you going to run off and jump with joy that I'm not going to leave you hanging?" Tyson smiled, not denying that it would be nice if he could like someone again. Maybe he should start to date it had been quite a while after all.

---------oooo---------

Kenny unplugged his carry around notebook from the wall so he could fold it up and put it back in his bag. Combing a hand through his wayward hair, he pushed another lock of hair out his way. Continuing his task, he didn't notice the figure behind him until he was tapped on the shoulder. Looking up, he caught sight of a pair of amethyst eyes watching him with a smile.

Finishing what he was doing, Kenny turned to the person behind him wearing a dark burgundy colored long sleeved shirt with a light pair of brown khaki pants. "Well, I haven't seen you in a few days, been busy?" the figure with short green hair said.

"What do you mean have I been busy?" Kenny said. "I should be asking you that question, Oliver. I haven't seen you at the store in a while."

This young man was a sophomore at the college who actually lived in an apartment provided by the campus. He transferred to the states from Paris maybe three or four years ago so he could pursue his dream of not only being a painter, but a master chief too. The first time Kenny met him was at Starbucks, when Kenny was on break working on his story. He hadn't noticed Oliver until the other commented on Kenny's style of writing, and smiled.

At first Kenny could only say thank you, but then Oliver, being as friendly as he was, sat down and started a conversation with Kenny. The two young men found each other's company to be likeable and it wasn't too long before they became friends. Exchanging numbers and email addresses if they wanted to get in contact with each other. So far with his book, Oliver was Kenny's main critic, and editor.

When Oliver first asked him where he got the material for the story from, Kenny was more than hesitant to reply, until Oliver eventually bugged it out of him. Kenny thought for sure that Oliver would stop talking to him, but the French teen just smiled, like he tended to do, and say that he had no bias against anyone's sexual preferences. And that it shouldn't matter as long as he cared and loved someone, no matter what sex they were. The brunette found himself more grateful to his friend all the time for helping him.

"You know how I am," Oliver said, his French accent mingling with his speech.

"Always at home reading something, am I right?" Kenny said, picking up his bag and sliding it onto his shoulder. "I swear, whenever I call you, you always have a book in your hand. And everyone thinks I would be a nerd. So, what is it this time?"

"Actually, I've been attending a few night sessions in this program that my cousin told me about. I'm learning a lot of new things, especially about mixing spices," Oliver replied, beginning to walk in step with Kenny as the brunette headed out the door. Kenny noted that the weather was slowly changing day by day. Soon it would really feel like fall instead of the last remnants of summer.

"So, when do I get my first meal that doesn't taste salty?" Kenny joked, receiving him a lightly scolding look from his friend.

"Never if you keep up comments like that, Kenneth," Oliver said.

"Will you stop that," Kenny groaned. Kenny hated people using his full name, because he had heard enough of it when he was younger from all his relatives. He found the act extremely annoying and was very quick to remind anyone how much he hated it. But of course it would be Oliver that did it just to irritate him. "You how much I hate that."

"Well stop picking on your elders," Oliver laughed. "I only do that when you decide to humor yourself about my cooking."

"And you know that I'm only kidding when I say that you have black thumbs when it comes to the kitchen," Kenny countered. "So, on a level, when do I get my first meal? After all, I've provided you with reading material for the past four months. I hoped you would at least reward me for my endeavors."

"I suppose I can do something for you, tell me what you want me to cook for you," Oliver said, looking over to the younger teen beside him, who thought it over in his mind.

"I think I will let you decide what to cook me. I want to be surprised. So, when do I come over?"

"Are you free next Thursday, I don't have classes that day," Oliver questioned.

"Next Thursday...yeah. I don't have work that day. That would work out perfectly. And I'll bring over the prototype for chapter five for you to read. It's not all the way completed, but I think it's at a point where I've hit a huge writer's block. I know I'm adding in aspects of my life when I get to the parts going over that summer, but...I have no idea what I want to add right now," Kenny stated.

"Well, it takes time to create a masterpiece," Oliver voiced. "You'll get over your block and I'm certain that the chapter will turn out nicely. The next chapter will lead up to your main character finding out that he will be sent away for the summer, am I correct in asking?"

"I don't know anymore. Sometimes when I sit down to work on it, the ideas in my head seem foolish and idiotic. I want the story to go well, so I can say that I accomplished something in life. Something that I can leave in this world and have people know, it's more than a story, it was someone's life story," Kenny declared.

"And I know you will be able to do that because you are a creative and talented person, Kenny. I know that if you take your time, no matter how much time goes by before you publish it, you will be able to get it published and people will be touched by your story," Oliver assured.

"You think so, Oliver?" Kenny questioned. His question received a huge smile from his friend, who placed a hand lightly on his shoulder.

"Of course," Oliver stated. "You know, Kenny, do you mind if I invite someone else to come over next Thursday for dinner. A friend of mine who might give you a better opinion of your work than me, he's an English major finishing his third year of school. He doesn't go here of course, I would have already introduced you. He's suppose to be coming this week to stay two weeks over here to visit."

"How long have you two been friends?"

"Well...let's see...I think I first met Robert when I was nine. His family lived in Paris for maybe five years. After he left we kept in touch as often as possible. His family originates from Germany, but he's traveled all his life to different places. Paris, Italy, Greek, Russia, Spain, and I think Japan once or twice. He's lived here in the States for maybe four years," Oliver commented.

"He must be well versed in several languages then. So where does he live, since it's obvious he doesn't live here in Massachusetts?" Kenny looked over at his friend as they continued walking across campus. A few students that were out were playing catch or relaxing, enjoying the warmth that would probably be gone in two weeks.

"He lives in Washington right now," Oliver replied.

"I assume he goes to State?" Kenny voiced.

"That's right," Oliver nodded. "He said that after he graduates, he plans to relocate to Virginia or New York. He plans to be an editor for a publishing company, so he's the perfect person to help you out."

"So, this is his third year, he's graduating next fall?"

"Actually, he graduates this coming spring. He graduated from high school when he was sixteen and went immediately into college. With him being home schooled a lot, he was ahead of other kids his age. Come this April he will finish out his last few credits out," Oliver laughed a little at the expression on Kenny's face. "I'm sorry if I didn't explain so well."

"Damn...I think he's put the rest of us to shame. Well, I'm sure that it will be interesting to meet him and get his opinion on my work," Kenny shook his head.

"Oh, don't worry about it. He's not as bad as you make him sound. It's not like he's going to rip you to shreds or something. He will give you his honest opinion and where you might need to improve," Oliver guaranteed.

"I see, well I suppose that eventually I would have to get another critic besides you, not that you haven't been the best help in the world. Okay then, I'll see you next Thursday then, right now I have to get home so I can get ready for work. I will talk to you later Oliver." Kenny waved his friend good-bye as he ran across campus to get to the bus stop on time.

-----------oooo----------

"Hey Kenny, do you think you could tell Joshua to add more whip cream to my order?" inquired a lady in her mid thirties with short blonde hair, as Kenny walked by carrying a tray with two large mocha lattes.

Kenny turned his eyes to the lady with a smile. "Of course Natalie. I'll tell him as soon as I get these to the girls by the window."

"Thanks a lot sweetie," the lady named Natalie said as she went back to her book. Kenny weaved his way around the chairs and tables in the shop that he worked in. Okay...so this Starbucks really wasn't as small as a shop since it also connected to a Barnes & Nobles bookstore. So really is was maybe twice the size of a normal Starbucks. Most of the people sitting in the shop now were regulars from when Kenny began working there his senior year of high school.

He's moved up from just having a cashier position. Most times he was a waiter, which is how he made a little extra money with the regulars that left him tips. Other times he trained the new people that came into the job, a few times he rang up customers, but as said before, he didn't do that quite as often as before. On occasions, if one of the boys that usually made the drinks were out, Kenny would help out in the back.

Reaching the table by the window, he set the drinks down in front of two giggling junior high school girls. The girl with bright blue eyes and black hair done in a long braid batted her eyes up at him. "How are you doing today Kenny?"

"Hi Vicky, how are you doing today? I see that Jeri isn't with you today, she had detention again?" Kenny smiled. The girl with the black hair was a regular there, along with her friend Jeri who was not present today. Kenny knew that both girls had a huge crush on him, but neither would say a word and only giggled whenever he brought them their orders.

"Yeah...oh, this is Latrice, she just transferred to the school today. I volunteered to show her around, so we ended up here. Say hi Latrice," Vicky chimed.

"Hi. You're cute, are you single?" was the first thing out the girl's mouth before her face looked as if it caught on fire. She lowered her eyes from him to the latte in front of her. Kenny chuckled inwardly at her boldness and decided that it wouldn't be nice if he didn't reply, even if it was to humor her.

"I'm glad someone thinks I am. So, do you know anyone that I can date since I am single?" he replied. As expected, she turned a whole new shade of red.

"Hey Kenny, I have table four's order ready!" a guy with curly dusty brown hair shouted from the pick up.

"Coming! Oh yeah, Josh!"

"What?" the man called back.

"Natalie said add more whip cream to her cappuccino," Kenny shouted back. Turning back to the two girls, he gave them a little wink. "Sorry I can't stay longer and talk, work calls." Making his way from the two girls, he heard a squeak and rapid whispers. Ah, to be that young again.

"Hey, Chief!" Tyson made his way through the sections that separated the Barnes & Nobles from the Starbucks and flopped down at an empty table. "Kain and Rei said they would be here in a few minutes. Call for break soon."

"I'll see Tyson," Kenny said, picking up the order that was waiting to be given to the man in his early twenties. Kenny weaved his way through the crowd of people that were walking into Starbucks to the cash registers to order drinks and sat his drink down at the table where the man in his early twenties with the purple hair, who was reading what looked to be a manuscript or report. "Here's your vanilla cappuccino, sir."

"Thank you." The man looked up at Kenny with his dark eyes, a smile on his face. Kenny momentarily got lost in his dark eyes.

"Hey Kenny, order for table ten is ready," Josh shouted, breaking whatever spell that held Kenny in place.

"I'm coming!" With a slight flush to his cheeks, Kenny turned away from the man and headed back to take the order to the assigned table. He couldn't believe that for those few moments he stood staring at some complete stranger as if he was the most amazing thing in the history of the universe. Was he really that desperate to move on that he would drool over a complete stranger?

'That's a good one, Kenny. You might as well go home tonight and watch some porn for all the drooling you've already done.' his brain taunted.

"Shut up," Kenny muttered to his brain as he weaved in and out of the tables. What he didn't realize as he went back to work was a pair of eyes watching him momentarily before going back to reading the papers in his hand.

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Okay, that's it! No more! I'm done! Nine pages, leave me alone all of you!! Now let me go before my head collapses in, later guys! Hope you liked this chapter and all the nice little plots that I'm building up in this one. And don't worry, about two or three more chapters and Tala and Kai will make an appearance, please be patient.


	4. Chapter 4

Rim: All right, welcome to the next chapter of Aster Fall. What do I have for you all today? I have no idea, but hey that's what makes it all so fun, doesn't it? Well, I would like to thank everyone for reviewing and I do have an announcement to make, yes that was Robert last chapter, but don't let that fool you, what I have planned for him and Kenny...well...you'll find out, now let's get going!

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"Hey Kenny, you have customers at table five!" his co-worker, Josh said with a huge grin as he put out four drinks. "Go ahead and take a break, you've been working nonstop since you arrived."

"Then why am I taking drinks to table five?" Kenny said, picking up the tray.

"Because, you're breaking with us," Kain shouted from the table marked five. Kenny looked over at the table to find Kain, Rei, and Tyson sitting down, looking at him with a grin.

"And this is what I'm talking about. This Java chip will be the death of you, and you have whipped cream on it. Aren't you fat enough as it is?" Kenny smirked as he weaved his way through the tables to the one marked five. Sitting the tray down on the table, he took the empty seat that was by Tyson.

Kain glared at Kenny for a long minute before grabbing a cup from the table. "And after the trouble to buy you a drink, I should just dump it on your damn head, you ungrateful whore."

"Excuse me, but the last I remember, I wasn't your bitch. I always thought you were Rei's, right Rei?" Kenny retorted playfully.

"I'm not getting into it," Rei smiled, and grabbed a cup from the tray. "This time, I'm going to let you and Kain settle things. Just no bloodshed at the table, I think Josh wants Kenny to keep working."

"Why is it that I can never kill him?" Kain said.

"Because he's more important than you," Tyson grinned, grabbing a cup also.

"You know, I may not be able to kill him but—" started Kain.

"I have to get back to work too," Tyson pointed out.

"I doubt that your boss needs you. I think he has one too many gullible lackeys don't you?" Kain countered. "Not to mention that you have nothing really going for you anyway. So you might as well let me kill you."

"For your information, I have a date this weekend with Ozuma; we're going to the movies on Saturday," Tyson said, drinking his Java chip. As expected, three pairs of eyes turned full attention on him with wide eyes.

"You mean..." Tyson nodded at Kain's unfinished question, the smile on his face growing ever so wide. "You bastard, when were you planning to tell the rest of us?"

"Well, now," Tyson said. "It's not really that big a deal or anything, it's just a movie."

"Not a big deal? What do you mean it's not a big deal! Of course it's a big deal you're going out on a date with Ozuma. The same Ozuma that you said you were just friends with," Kain stated. "Friends don't go out on a date with other friends unless there is a common interest between them."

"Which must mean you like him to some degree," Rei added in. "I mean, it might not be that you want to date him yet, but that doesn't mean that you're opposed to that idea, am I right?"

"Well, it's sort of strange and a bit complicated. I don't really like him, but it's not to say that he wouldn't make a great boyfriend, if he's into guys that it. He's a fun person to be around, and I could date him, but then...well..." It always came back to the fact he still loved Kai and felt as if he was betraying their love.

"You know what I say Tyson?" Rei said.

"What?" Tyson wondered.

"I say that you enjoy this time, if it isn't meant to be you will know," Rei advised. "I mean maybe you will find that he just may be the step you need to come to terms with what happened to Kai and move on. You can't live in the past forever when there is so much in the future that could be waiting for you. But this doesn't mean that you have to forget about your first love, just know that if he remains in your heart, that you can learn to live for you both."

"I think I know that," Tyson nodded. "And I think that I am ready to move on and see what's out there for me."

"Good, now the only person that we need to find someone for is Kenny," Kain stated.

Kenny looked up from his Java chip and quirked a brow at his friend. "Excuse me, what do you mean the only person that we need to find someone for is Kenny? Didn't I ask you not to do me any favors? The last thing I need or want is you supposedly hooking me up with some psycho you say is harmless."

"Stop complaining, and let me do this favor for you," Kain said. "Don't you think that all the time you spend hanging with us while we're trying to go out on a date could be better spent with your own date?"

"Have you forgotten that Rei asks me to come most of those times?" Kenny suggested. "And usually you're too busy to remember I'm there and only when Rei pushes you away, do you have the decency not to try and rape him in front of me."

"What the hell do you mean try not to rape him in front of you?" Kain demanded.

"It's just as it sounds. I don't think my best friend wants to be pawed by you all the time when he wants to spend time with me," Kenny voiced. "Isn't that right, Rei?"

"Didn't I tell you both I'm not getting into this with you today? I've hung up my mediator belt for a while. You go through this routine almost every time we're together, so I think for once I'm going to watch it play out without interference," Rei replied, continuing to drink his Java chip.

"At least tell the little bastard that I never try to rape you," Kain all but whined to Rei who just continued drinking his drink. "Thanks a lot Rei, what happened to our love?"

"It's taking a backseat for a while," Tyson voiced.

"Shut up," Kain glowered. "It's really going to be a pleasure when Ozuma occupies all your free time, then I will only have to deal with one of you."

"It's going to be a pleasure not to be around you either," Tyson remarked. "Not like I don't see your ugly face enough as it is." Kain just stared at Tyson, but didn't say a word.

"Okay, you three, I think that's enough insulting each other," Rei finally stepped into the conversation. "I don't want to drag any bodies out of here."

"Oh, so now you step in when I don't say anything, how foul is that Rei?" Kain pouted.

"I'll make it up to you later tonight, okay?" Rei leaned over and murmured into Kain's ear. Kain turned his face towards Rei's stealing a small kiss before pulling away, both catching Tyson and Kenny making gagging faces. "Want a kiss too?"

"Not after your lips have touched his," Tyson shivered.

"I agree with Tyson on this one," Kenny nodded. "I don't want to even think where his mouth has been."

"Places on Rei where you wish someone would go on you," Kain smirked.

"Rei, I suggest when you get back to your dorm, you scrub, and scrub hard, that can't be healthy to have his mouth touch you anywhere," Tyson stated. Before Kain could retort something back, the blue haired teen got up from his chair and grabbed his cup. "I should be getting back to work I've been gone long enough."

"You better go back to work," Kain threatened.

Ignoring his friend, Tyson turned a smile to Rei and his cousin. "I'll see you two later. And I promise that I will tell you guys how things go Saturday."

"Bye Tyson," Rei smiled. "And I hope you have a good time Saturday." Tyson nodded and left the three as he headed back to work.

"Okay, so what's up for this weekend?" Kain said once he was certain that Tyson was gone. "I say we catch a bit to eat, and then a movie or we could trail Tyson and ruin his date."

"You're nothing but the devil," Kenny shook his head. "If he were to do that to you, you would try to kill him. I have to work this weekend anyway. Then I have a paper that I have to work on for English class, so I'm more than likely going straight home. For once, I'll leave you to have your time alone with Rei."

"Oh, don't I feel lucky," Kain said. "Maybe you aren't such a brat after all, and I should take back some of the things I said about you. But then again, you're probably going to make another nasty comment that you have a habit of making sooner or later."

"You're lucky I don't have any right now," Kenny said.

"That's a change of pace. I think this is the first time that you've never had a comeback from one of my insults. Something the matter, Kenny?" Kain raised a brow.

"Nothing's the matter, it's just that I don't feel like it anymore," Kenny said, leaning back in his seat, letting his eyes go over the tables. That guy he served earlier was gone. Not that he was actually looking for him or anything, but Kenny was sort of curious as to what he was working on. Maybe he was a student at a local university he looked no older than Kenny anyway.

"That doesn't sound like you at all," Rei frowned.

"I agree. What's up? You know that you can't lie to us if you wanted to, we've known you too long," Kain said, getting serious. "Some thing is on your mind, so tell us what it is, so we don't have to turn you upside down and shake it out of you."

A smile came to Kenny's lips. No matter how much he and Kain argued or insulted each other, Kain was always there for him when he really needed the other. It was true, for as long as he's known both, Kenny was never really able to lie to them about anything. As annoying as it was at times, he was grateful at the same time. Without them, he didn't know how he would have gotten over the pain of losing Tala, nor moving on with his life. "It's not really much, I just...well...I was serving this guy earlier before you came and I just completely blanked out."

"What do you mean blanked out?" Rei questioned.

"I stared at him," Kenny said. "I don't know what happened, but I just stood there staring at him. I don't do things like that."

"Getting that desperate now?" Kain grinned.

"Shut up! I just don't want strangers to think I have some sort of issues or something," Kenny flushed.

"Was he cute?" Kain asked, his eyes twinkling with that sign that if he could, he would track down that guy and do a little bit of matchmaking.

"I guess. I didn't stare at him that long to find out."

"Oh come on, you had to have thought he was cute in order to just stand there and stare at him. Is he still here, I'll check him out for you. What table was he seating at?"

"He was sitting at four, but he's gone now," Kenny shook his head. "I know what you're thinking, and there is no way I'm going to let you go on your little detective trip and hunt him down so you can play matchmaker. Probably has a girlfriend anyway."

"Hey, if he was here alone, I doubt that," Kain countered.

"Well maybe he was doing work and couldn't meet up with her. When I brought him his drink he was looking over some sort of report or manuscript," Kenny stated.

"That doesn't mean a thing. Unless you saw a ring on his finger, that means he's up for grabs. And if he wasn't sitting with anyone, then that's all the more reason to be bold and get his number. Maybe he's a student at our school, or maybe a young professor," Kain suggested. "Tell me what he looks like and I can ask around for you."

"Rei, tell him to leave me alone, that I'm happy being single for right now," Kenny said.

"You know how Kain can get when you tell him information like that," Rei smiled. "He's only trying to look out for your best interest, he doesn't mean any harm you know that. Besides, I think he's right in thinking that you've been alone for too long already. I mean, you had more than one person to be interested with you during high school, but you were still trying to come to terms with losing your first love."

"That may be so, but I'm just coming to terms now. I think I deserve a little more time to myself before you start trying to hook me up with strangers who may have a girlfriend, or may be getting married, or may only like girls."

"I say stop acting like a widow and get another man," Kain voiced. "I mean, that's the only way you're ever going to balance yourself out again."

"Well thank you for your advice. Now I'm going back to work," Kenny said, getting up from the table. "I'm getting off in two more hours. Don't forget to come pick me up this time."

"Last time it was Kain's fault," Rei said.

"Hey, was it my fault that I needed a little before you got off?" Kain questioned.

"Yes," Kenny simply said. "Now that I have that imbued on my brain for the rest of eternity to have nightmares over, I'm going back to work. I'll see you two later." Like his cousin did, Kenny left the table before Kain could say a word. Even if they did mess with each other, he was glad to have them both for friends. He didn't know what he would do without them.

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"Okay, so what should we do for Christmas?" Rei asked as he, Kenny, and Kain waited in the drive-through line at the local Wendy's for their food. Kenny sat in the backseat with his laptop working on his novel. Occasionally he would look up from his Dell to look at Rei.

"Christmas, shouldn't we talk about what we're going to do for Thanksgiving? That's closer after all," Kain said, pulling up to the pickup window.

The lady at the window smiled at him, as she handed Kain the food he had ordered. "Here's your order sir. Have a good evening."

"You too," Kain smiled as he handed the bags to Rei and rolled up his window, before driving off. "Okay, now back to the topic at hand."

"The reason we're talking about Christmas is because we're going to be with our families on Thanksgiving. We don't plan to spend the whole Christmas break at home, right?" Kenny inquired as he saved his work and put his laptop on hibernate. Sitting his laptop down, he took the bag of food that Rei handed to him and opened it.

"Well, I didn't plan to spend the whole Thanksgiving vacation at home either," Kain said. "I mean, my cousin Joseph is coming down, and the last thing I need is him worrying me to tag along everywhere I go."

"Speaking of cousins, I think your cousin will be ecstatic when he learns who's coming up for the holidays soon," Rei grinned back at Kenny.

"My cousin, who's coming up that Tyson will be happy to see," Kenny questioned between munching on his classic double.

"I'm not talking about Tyson, I was talking about Ian."

"You don't mean..." Kenny started.

"In fact I do," Rei laughed. "Kevin's mother told me that they will be out for school sooner than the rest of us, so she's sending him up for the holidays."

"Dammit, now I'm going to have to kill them both." If there was one thing that Kenny could not take, it would be Ian having an accomplice to his crimes. Kevin Lih-Xiao, Rei's younger cousin on his father's side of the family was best friends with Ian for as long as Rei has been friends with Kenny. Not that Kevin was as bad as Ian, because Kenny was known to get along with Kevin; it was just that Kevin tended to follow along with Ian's plans no matter what they were.

"You know Kevin has gotten a little more grown since last we saw him. I think he may be able to talk Ian out of his stunts this year."

"Now if only that little troll of a cousin of mine will do some growing," Kenny sighed then went back to eating. The now sixteen year old boy was still pretty much the same as three years ago. The only thing that really changed was that he got maybe a little bit taller and he was even a cute kid now. A cute and devious child, he heard was approached every other week by some girl to go out with them.

"Is he still playing the bachelor role at school?" Kain inquired.

"I have yet to hear from Tyson that the troll has picked one of the girls hounding him," Kenny said.

"You may not want to admit it, but you two are alike more than you want to be. He acts like you most of the time when you're not around. I think that he admires you more than he would ever admit. Giving you a hard time is just his way of showing it."

"And beating his ass is my way of showing him how much I love his admirations," Kenny replied sarcastically.

"And you wonder why he's evil as hell," Kain laughed. For the moment conversation died down while Kenny ate his food and Rei feeding Kain while he drove. After a few minutes, Kain felt a smirk rise to his lips as something came to his mind. "Hey Kenny."

"Huh?" Kenny looked up from finishing off his fries. From the rearview mirror, he noticed the smug look in the corner of Kain's mouth.

"Do you realize that more often than not, you eat late at night when you have to work? You always talk about me being fat; I noticed a while ago, that you've been getting a little bit hefty around your waist, thighs, and ass."

"I have not," Kenny exclaimed.

"Didn't you have to give away like three pairs of pants you use to be able to fit in back in high school?" Kain smiled evilly. "It's not a bad change you have a little more meat on your bones, guys like that. But you better watch what you eat late at night or you're going to end up a blimp, just a hint of advice."

"Kain..." Kenny started.

"Yes, baby?" Kain grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

"If you don't want me to shove the rest of this burger up your ass, you better not say that again. You talk about giving away close, I remember our last year of high school how you gave away half of your wardrobe from 10th grade because you couldn't squeeze your fat ass into a single pair of jeans. Even your mother said you should go on a diet because she didn't want to spend three hundred dollars getting you new clothes for the year," Kenny retorted back. "So you can't talk about me."

"You two just can't leave each other alone for a minute can you? Maybe I should have set you two up instead of dating Kain. I swear that whenever I turn around you're always shooting insults at one another," Rei shook his head.

"There is no way I would have gone out with him. You're the only one for me," Kain said. "Let's go ahead and drop him off so we can go back to our dorm room to play."

"Well my house is right there," Kenny pointed. "Drop me off so I don't have to lose my dinner."

Kain pulled up to the sidewalk in front of Kenny's house and gave the brunette a slight glare at his last remark. "Hurry up and get out then. We have better things to do than chauffeur you around. Now get out."

"I'm going you don't have to tell me twice." Gathering his belongs, Kenny opened the door on the left hand side, getting out. "I'll see you two tomorrow. And make sure that you wear a rubber so you don't give Rei any of your diseases."

"Yes mother," Kain said, rolling his eyes. "I'll make sure that I will. Just make sure that when you're jacking off tonight to porn, that you lock your door."

"Bye Kenny," Rei giggled as the two drove off.

Kenny felt a smile tug at his mouth as he walked to his house, fishing his keys from his pocket, and unlocking the door when he reached the knob. Once inside, he locked up and headed upstairs. His mother was already in bed, because the light in the kitchen wasn't on. If she was still up, she was usually in the kitchen cleaning up something.

Heading up to his room, Kenny pushed the door open and cut on the light. Dropping his things by the door, he set the remaining of his food on his desk and went to get his laptop from his carry around bag so he could hook it up to the adapter by the wall. Once finished, the brunette went over to his desk. Sitting down, Kenny cut on his computer, waiting for it to boot up. While this was happening, the phone suddenly rang.

"Who could be calling this late at night?" Reaching over to the cordless that rested on the table over, Kenny answered it. "Hello, Shinoda residence." On the other end of the phone, there was only silence. "Hello?" With a frown, Kenny hung up. "Damn prank callers." With a shake of his head, Kenny logged into his yahoo IM box once his laptop was booted up. After a while the thought of looking on his caller ID to find out who called him came to mind, but by then, he was too immersed in his paper for his English class to let his curiosity pick at his mind.

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Rim: I know, I know. I couldn't fit everything in this chapter that I wanted. I really did try, but hey, just think next chapter starts off on the best note in the world. I think I might dedicate the chapter to everyone's favorite blue haired sweetie Tyson! I have the whole chapter planned out! Well let me get going. Time to find something more to do, until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

Rim: Yeah, we're up to chapter 5 by now. I know that I left everyone off on that was it really a prank call or something more note last chapter and to honestly tell you...I don't know!! I just decided to add that in because it seemed cool...or something. Last chapter didn't have much in the form of action, but I like when Kain and Kenny shoot banter at each other. It's absolutely funny, but here's the next chapter, thanks for everyone enjoying last chapter, this chapter will have some interesting things going for it. And it will be longer.

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Tyson stood in front of his mirror combing his hair from out of his face, then growled at his reflection and combed his bangs another way. For the past ten minutes, Tyson has been fighting with his hair to get it exactly right. Of course his hair only wanted to go one way, and in the end, his hair won the battle. Putting his comb down, Tyson glared at his hair through his reflection then decided that he liked his hair, and the idea of chopping it off would be pointless.

Grabbing a clear rubber band from his dresser, Tyson pulled his hair through the rubber band, Tyson made sure that his ponytail was not too tight. Once finished with his hair, Tyson stood back to look at his reflection in the full length mirror. Tyson was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans with a short sleeved, black low cut t-shirt. Embroidered on the shirt was a blue and silver dragon with gold eyes that was breathing flames of crimson and silver from its mouth. Japanese characters were stretched out behind the dragon horizontally.

For once in his life, Tyson was going to leave his hat off, which was why he spent so much time doing his hair. Finally deciding that he didn't need to do anything else to his hair or change his clothes another time, Tyson turned away from the mirror just as the phone rang. Reaching for the phone that was on the dresser, Tyson answered it.

"Hello, Granger residence," he said.

"Tyson, what's up?" the voice of a man came through and it took the young man almost a minute to realize who was on the other end.

"Hitoshi, where are you?" Tyson exclaimed.

The person on the end of the phone was Tyson's twenty-nine year old brother who was currently living in Japan. Tyson's brother was an architect for a small business. After their mother died when Tyson was twelve, Hitoshi was going through his last year of college at the university in California. Upon hearing the news, Hitoshi moved to Japan a year later, not being able to take staying in America without being reminded of his mother.

About two years ago was the first time that Hitoshi came back from Japan to visit his father and brother. He and Tyson still looked pretty much like their mother, and not much had really changed about the two since the leave. Tyson had always been close to Hitoshi and while the older was away, Tyson was always writing letters, and more recently in the past four years, emails to his big brother. Every now and then a phone call would come when Hitoshi was in Japan on a project.

Hitoshi was also the first member in the Granger family so far that knew about Tyson being gay. When Tyson first told his brother about two years ago, he was a nervous wreck, until his brother assured him that he didn't love Tyson any less because of it, and Tyson would eventually have to tell their father one day whether he wanted to or not. Hitoshi then sat Tyson down and listened to the entire story of how he figured out that he liked guys, and gave his brother and cousin much support when learning that Kenny was also gay.

"I'm still in Japan, Ty. What are you doing?" Hitoshi said.

"Not much, just getting ready to go out, that's all," Tyson said. "So, how's the project going in Sendai? You've been working on it for five months after all."

"It's actually almost finished. It wasn't that much work, since it was only a small shop that we were designing for a client's girlfriend. Father around, or hasn't he come back from that dig in New Mexico yet?" Hitoshi inquired.

"No, not yet, Grandpa has been coming by to check on me, so don't worry," Tyson said. "Hopefully he will be back by Tuesday. Want me to tell him that you called?"

"Thanks little brother that will be much appreciated. So, tell your big brother where are you planning to go anyway?"

"No where much, one of my classmates asked me out to see a movie, that's all," Tyson said, with a smile.

"I see. So, is he cute?" Hitoshi inquired.

"Ozuma...? Well, I suppose he is, but it's not really like that at all. I mean, it's not a real date, date you know. It's more like just hanging out with him," Tyson assured. "Please don't start sounding like my friends, the last thing that I need is to hear that I need this or something."

"You may just need it," Hitoshi laughed. "Listen, you go and have a good time, I have to get back to working on the next design for another project I have in a few months. When dad comes back, tell him that I said to call, there's something important I need to ask him."

"I will," Tyson nodded. "And don't work too hard."

"I won't, and you have a good time with your friend," Hitoshi said.

"I will," Tyson nodded. And with that, he hung up the phone. Turning to get his wallet from the nightstand by the bed, he heard the doorbell downstairs. Looking over at the clock, he read ten minutes to eight. Ozuma called him early that morning saying that he would be by Tyson's house close to eight that evening and his friend had not fallen through on that promise.

Shoving his wallet in his pocket, Tyson cut the light off in his room and headed downstairs, taking the stairs two at a time. Once he reached the front door, he opened it, staring at Ozuma who had a large grin on his face.

"Looks like someone is in a hurry to go out tonight," Ozuma laughed, checking out what Tyson had on. While this was going on, Tyson decided to get a good look at his date for the evening. Ozuma's hair was still in its wily nature, sticking up here and there. The other teen had on baggy grayish cargo pants with a dusky blue parka.

"Don't look so bad," Tyson said with a huge grin.

"You don't look so bad yourself," Ozuma nodded. "So, your parents around, I would like to meet them."

"Sorry, but my dad is off on a dig right now in New Mexico. He's an archeologist and spends most of his time traveling somewhere to excavate sites that have recently been discovered," Tyson said.

"That's cool, and your mother, does she travel with him?" Ozuma inquired.

"She use to sometimes, but she died when I was twelve."

"Hey...I..."

"Don't worry about it. It was six years ago, I came to terms with it a while ago. But if she was still alive, I'm sure she would be happy to meet you. Then again...you're a pest so she may just boot you out," Tyson laughed.

"If I didn't think you were cute, I would hit you. Now come on, let's get going. So, what movie do you want to go see?" Ozuma said, ushering Tyson out the front door after the lock was engaged.

"Well...I thought it over and I decided I wanted to go see The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," Tyson chimed with a grin. Ozuma looked over at Tyson with a funny stare as they headed for Ozuma's 2001 dark green Explorer. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I would have never thought you were a LOTR fan. Don't tell me that you're one of those closet fantasy fan boys, are you?" Ozuma smirked. Reaching the car, Ozuma opened the door for Tyson, who got in and allowed Ozuma to close the door for him. The conversation continued once Ozuma walked around the other side and got into the driver's side, pulling out his keys and placing the car key into the ignition.

"Blame my cousin for my addiction to the trilogy. He got me to read the first book a while ago, and I haven't been able to stop obsessing over the trilogy since. So, I suppose that I am becoming a fantasy fan boy of sorts," Tyson said.

"I would have never guessed that you were such a bookworm. Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised or anything with the way you are in class," Ozuma stated.

"What do you mean 'by the way I am in class'? I'm not that smart," Tyson said.

"Yes you are. I don't think anyone I've asked about the class has been able to put things into as much prospective as you have," Ozuma said.

"Well, I'm glad that I can make something work in that head of yours, otherwise what would be the point of losing my sanity over you?" Tyson cocked up a brow. "But back to the topic, you really think I'm that smart?"

"Of course, everyone in class says so all the time when you aren't paying attention. You have a real good chance in becoming a psychologist, just make sure that when you do, I can be your secretary," Ozuma smiled.

"Fine, I'll give you a call when I get my license. And thanks for the comment. If my friends heard what you said, they would likely look at you in amazement and start laughing," Tyson stated.

"You mean, Kain, Rei, and Kenny?"

"No," Tyson shook his head. "My friends back in my old hometown."

"Where did you grow up at?" Ozuma inquired.

"I grew up in Tennessee. There were probably no more than 100 and something kids between the elementary, middle, and high school. We were somewhat of a close knit community, and everyone knew what everyone else was doing and so on. I moved from there when I was twelve after my mother died," Tyson said.

"I'm sure you were popular there, a person can't help but like you."

"I suppose so," Tyson shrugged. "I had three best friends there. Well, they still are my best friends, I use to go back every summer to see them and holidays. But Max and Zeo go out of state to a school in Georgia. My other friend Johnny lives in West Virginia with my cousin Emily."

"You all grew up together, must be fun, from what I'm getting from what you're saying, you lived in a country town, right? So, did you go back to visit last summer?" Ozuma pulled up to the red light and stopped, looking over at Tyson who was staring out the window, his lashes lowered over his eyes, but Ozuma could still see the tears that shimmered. "Tyson?"

"No," Tyson said softly. "I didn't go back last year, or the year before that." After what happened to Kai, Tyson doubted that his old hometown would ever feel right to go back to for a long time. Everyone would no doubt still be talking about it even now. It was the biggest news to happen in town in a long time.

"I suppose you don't want to talk about it right now, do you?" Ozuma questioned.

"Maybe later," said Tyson quietly staring out the window. He didn't know whether or not he would be able to tell Ozuma the truth, about him being gay, about his first love and the tragic end that befell both Kai and Tala. Tyson didn't know how his friend would react to the news, nor if they would still be friends after this.

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Kenny sat down at the table by the window where his green haired friend sat. For a long time, Kenny just watched as Oliver continued to sketch something outside in the night scenery. Maybe once or twice Kenny tried to figure out what it was, but his friend's face gave away nothing to take a guess at what he was drawing. Finally, after five minutes pass, Oliver finally looked up at him with brow arched.

"How long were you planning to sit there without saying anything?"

"I didn't want to disturb you," Kenny said.

"You were disturbing me by not saying a word. I was starting to wonder if you had something on your mind," Oliver said, putting down his pencil.

"Well, nothing important. So what were you drawing anyway?" Oliver turned the sketch pad to Kenny, showing a sketch of one of the buildings shrouded in the shadows of night and the light from the moon. "Nice, I like the way the light and shadows meet."

"I'm trying to find inspiration for a new drawing, but currently I'm drawing blanks. So I decided to sketch random items until I know what type of idea I want to do. Maybe you should do the same for your story. How is it coming anyway?" Oliver watched his friend lean back in the chair, his face taking on a somber look.

"I'm starting to wonder what the hell I'm trying to do," Kenny admitted. "Every time I try to go back to work on it, I come up blank, or the ideas are crap. Last night, I got the urge to take the whole story and throw it in a trash can and burn it to ash and just forget about becoming a writer all together."

"And what did you do?" Oliver inquired.

"I went to work on my English thesis paper. I had better luck getting halfway done with that. I need a vacation from my life," Kenny sighed.

"Or a companion," Oliver suggested.

Kenny turned his eyes back to his amethyst eyed friend. "Don't you start up too don't you think I've heard enough of it from Kain? If anyone else mentions my love life I will kill them. I don't need a boyfriend, especially not now."

"A companion doesn't always mean a boyfriend, Kenny," Oliver stated. "A companion could be a dog, or any type of animal."

"Well thank you Webster for that enlightenment," Kenny said with a slight roll of his eyes. "So the dog will write the rest of the book for me? That's one smart ass dog, where can I find one?"

"You're missing the point of the whole thing, Kenneth," Oliver said, putting emphasis on the word. He satisfactory watched Kenny flinch with annoyance. "The point of a companion is that you don't have to share your companion with others, they will listen to you no matter what, and always be there for you."

"I have Rei and Kain, remember?"

"But are they always there to listen to your problems?" Oliver wondered.

"I see your point, but I don't want a companion," Kenny voiced.

"Well, you don't have to have one it was just a suggestion anyway. You're grumpier tonight than usual before you get off work, what's the wrong with you?" Oliver picked up his pencil, turning his sketch pad back to him before he continued to finish his building.

"I'm not grumpy," Kenny argued.

"Yes you are. When I'm usually here, you're always smiling and often times talking with Tyson. He doesn't work tonight?" Oliver lightly touched up the edges of the building with gentle strokes of his pencil, creating a softer shadow on the drawing.

"He's out on a date tonight with a classmate," Kenny responded.

"I see." A short smile curled the corners of Oliver's lips as he continued to draw.

"What do you mean 'I see'? Are you trying to say that I'm jealous of him?" Kenny said.

"Nope, what I mean is that you're feeling lonely with him gone. You two are almost always together when you're around. And you're close after that summer in Tennessee," Oliver analyzed.

"Okay, I say we change the subject now," Kenny said quickly.

"Since you don't want to hear that, I'll talk to you about other things. My friend Robert, he arrived a few days ago. I told him a little bit about you and he's interested in meeting you." Oliver put his pencil down again, looking over at the brunette.

"Did you talk to him about my novel?"

"Of course and he's curious to find out how great a story it is."

"You make it sound like he's going to rip it to shreds, and right now I really wouldn't care," Kenny groaned, leaning his head against the back of the chair.

"Well he's not, so calm down and stop being so dramatic," Oliver advised.

"No," Kenny pouted. "Luckily I get off in a few minutes." Looking over at the clock on the wall, the numbers read 10: 45. It was one of his nights to close the store with another one of his co-workers, a young girl by the name of Katilyn Sampson. She was a junior in the local high school and it was known that she had a thing for him. But of course, what girl around this store didn't?

"Well, I'll keep you company until you're off," Oliver smiled. Kenny looked over at his friend who continued to finish his sketch.

"Don't I feel special?"

"Stop being rhetorical and grumpy and cheer up." Kenny didn't say a word he just watched the clock, wondering how things were going for Tyson. If there was one thing Kenny was that would be worried. He wondered if Tyson would be able to enjoy himself without thinking that he was betraying what he had with Kai. Nobody realized that Tyson hurt a lot more than Kenny because he knew Kai longer than Kenny had Tala. And because of it, there was more pain there.

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"You seemed to have enjoyed the movie a lot Tyson," Ozuma said as they walked up to Tyson's house.

"It was a great movie! I like the part at Helm's Deep. That was an amazing battle. It was very well adapted from the second book even if a few details were missing," Tyson grinned as he put the key in the keyhole and opened the door. "Thanks for the great time, do you want to come in for a while."

"Are you inviting me in Mister Granger?" Ozuma teased.

"Well, if I'm not then stop loitering on my lawn," Tyson laughed. "So do you want to come in or not? I'm not going to keep my door open forever."

"Fine then, I shall come in."

Tyson moved to the side to let his classmate in the house then locked the door. Just as he was turning around to face his company, the blue haired teen found his back against the door and his lips firmly against Ozuma's. His eyes widened, a bit shocked his friend was taking such a direct approach as this, but eventually, the lips against his felt too good and before he knew what he was doing, he was kissing Ozuma back with just as much fervent.

Feeling Ozuma's body press against his, Tyson let out a soft groan, just enough space between his parted lips for Ozuma to creep his tongue in to rub against Tyson's. The blue haired teen eventually pulled away, needing air, which was when he took the time to stare at Ozuma who pulled himself away from Tyson.

"I..." Tyson didn't know what to say of course. Ozuma just kissed him, not hesitating to add in a little tongue either. Well...the point was that Ozuma kissed him, another guy directly on the lips...actually...no. The point really was that his classmate kissed him period. So there went the 'he probably didn't like guys' thesis. Kain was definitely going to have a good time with this information.

"Just so if it wasn't clear, I hope it is now. I like you a lot Tyson and hope that we could go out more," Ozuma declared. Tyson remained silent, still stunned by this turn of events. Taking Tyson silence as rejection, Ozuma sighed. "I should have probably said something before kissing you huh? Yes, I like guys. I guess I should get back to the dorms now."

"Wait...don't go," Tyson said, finding his voice. "I...you shocked me yes, but...confession is that I'm gay too."

"You're...well that saves me an ass kicking," Ozuma replied, the grin returning to his face. "Will that earn me a slap?"

"No," Tyson said softly. "But there is something you should know about me, okay?"

"All right."

"Come on, the living room will be more comfortable." Pushing himself away from the door, Tyson led his classmate into the dark living room. Cutting on the lamps on either side of the couch, he seated himself, motioning to Ozuma to follow example. Once they were both seated, Tyson turned his blue eyes on the wily haired teen. "Remember when I told you that I didn't go back to my hometown last summer or the summer before that. It's because of a guy."

"Boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Tyson nodded.

"Still involved?" Ozuma wondered.

"No, we're not."

"Then..."

"Three years ago, we got together. I knew him from the time we were both in elementary school. I use to think he was a huge pain in the ass, but three years ago, I saw him for the first time. I saw past the attitude, the rumors surrounding him and his cousin, and how much he loved me all those years we grew up. He was my first true love that I wanted to spend my entire life with," Tyson whispered, feeling the tears in his eyes just thinking about Kai.

"What's his name?" Ozuma had a feeling about what Tyson was going to say, and he didn't like it. He shouldn't be pining over some old love that betrayed him. He didn't know how anyone could hurt Tyson like this and get away with it.

"His name was Kai Hiwatari. His cousin's name was Tala Ivanov, and he was in love with my cousin Kenny. But...things for us weren't so good." The tears fell and Tyson was finding it harder to speak of what happened.

"What happened three years ago?" Ozuma questioned.

"They...they were going to leave town and head up here to live so they could be close to Kenny and I. But...something happened and..." For a long minute, Tyson wasn't able to continue, the tears trickling down his face in rivets. Ozuma pulled Tyson into his embrace, stroking his back gently until the tears slowed. "They were killed by their uncle trying to leave. He killed them both and their bodies were found in a ditch near the house."

"Tyson...I'm sorry," Ozuma whispered. "I had no idea you carried such an enormous pain. You can let go now. Just get it out of your system."

"I loved him so much. He promised me that he would be there for me! He promised to come back to me...why...why?" Tyson sobbed into Ozuma's chest.

"I don't know," Ozuma murmured. For a long time, the two remained like that until the only thing that came out was one last whimper. Ozuma pulled Tyson away from his shirt then and wiped the other's face with a tissue he got from a box by the couch. "Tyson, I want you to listen to me. You have to move on. I know it's hard, but if you keep holding on, nothing good will ever come of it. I don't know what that feels like, but I'm sure it's painful. I don't want you to suffer, and I'm sure neither does Kai. So, smile again, okay?"

"Ozuma..." Maybe it wasn't a bad idea. Maybe he should move on, there was already someone there willing to love him if he was willing to open his heart once more; a very special person whose smile glowed just as much as his own and seemed to know the right things to say for every occasion. "Thank you."

"Hey, it's no biggie. So, what do you say? How about another date later this week?"

"I don't know yet," Tyson said.

"How about another kiss then?" Ozuma grinned as he leaned over and took hold of Tyson's mouth before the blue eyed teen could protest. Not that once he felt a tongue combing over every inch of his mouth, he had much to left to complain over. In fact, the muffled moan escaping his lips said otherwise.

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Rim: Okay! Another fine chapter completed!! Now I have no regrets to go to something new! (starts snapping pictures of Ozuma and Tyson making out on the couch) Well, I guess I will see you all in another chapter! Good bye now!


	6. Chapter 6

Rim: All right folks, I feel like giving, so here's the next chapter of Aster Fall, I hope you all enjoy. If the material isn't up to my usual standards you can kill my family for the constant interruptions, I give you permission.

Ozuma: And I'm going to make out more with Tyson!

Rim: Um…yeah. Okay, thanks to all the wonderful reviewers who didn't kill me…even though I think Silverm still might. Don't worry Silverm, after chapter 7, they will appear, and chapter 7 won't take me long to get out either. So calm down and take it easy, now on with the chapter.

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"So Tyson, how was your weekend?" inquired Rei as the four young men sat in the cafeteria after coming back from getting lunch from Burger King, Wendy's, and Hardee. Tyson looked at Rei, then at Kain, both anxiously awaiting to hear every detail of the date with Ozuma. The very same night Tyson came home from the date once Ozuma left, he immediately called his cousin, telling him everything.

Kenny had let out a sigh of relief, seeing as how he had worried how Tyson would fare. The two spent more than an hour talking before Kenny declared he was tired and headed off to bed.

"My date with Ozuma, well, it was nice, we went and saw The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, well before that we stopped off and had a little dinner, nothing really fancy."

"So, where did you go for dinner?" Rei questioned.

"Bob Evans, it was nice of him to pay for my meal and dessert. And we talked about him and growing up with Miriam. He told me that she use to boss him around all the time."

"I can imagine it," Kain shook his head. "She ask me one more time to date Salima, I'm going to have to announce to her that I'm gay."

"Then have her go into cardiac arrest when you tell her that you and Rei are not just dating but screwing each other since about three years ago?" Kenny remarked.

"If it gets her off my back, then yes," Kain voiced. "Okay, so what else happened with Ozuma, Tyson, after you went to go see the movie and all?

"Well, we went back to my house where he kissed me while I was against the door, and then we took it to the living room where I ended up making out on the couch with him for a while." Tyson started munching on his food while of course Kain gave him a wide stare. Rei on the other hand just smiled and went back to eating his Classic double.

"You what?" Kain gaped at the blue haired teen across the cafeteria table from him, eating a hamburger with an order of large French fries and a milkshake. Tyson looked up from his double bacon cheese burger loaded with tomatoes and onions, staring at Kain. Taking time to chew the food in his mouth and swallow, he let a grin rise to his lips. "You better answer me quickly Granger, or I so swear that I will beat you."

"Do you always have to threaten everyone around you?" Kenny said, between sipping on his Pepsi and eating the Chicken Caesar salad from Wendy's. Of course the comment received a glare from Kain. Rei shook his head, not saying a word because he knew that it would do no good in telling them to behave.

"Of course I have to threaten you brats. You're both forever doing something that makes me have to threat you," Kain replied matter of factly.

"That's just reassuring," Kenny said with a roll of his eyes. Kain glared at Kenny for a long minute before deciding not to say a word. By that time, Tyson had already begun sipping on his Mount Dew.

"I said that I went out on my date with Ozuma and had a good time, then when we got back to my house, he kissed me and we ended up making out on my couch for a while," Tyson repeated.

"I had a feeling you said that," Kane said.

"And is there something wrong with that?" Tyson questioned.

"Of course not, the fact that he likes you and the fact that you did need is perfectly fine with me. I'm not knocking you for knowing what you want, I'm happy that you finally got what you needed," Kain grinned. "So, how was he?"

"What do you mean how was he?" Tyson raised a brow.

"I mean, with you two making out on your couch, you had to have done a little bit more if you know what I mean," Kain said.

"No, we did not have sex!" Tyson said.

"Didn't get just a little touchy feely?" Kain questioned.

"I'm not inclined to answer that," Tyson said, going back to his burger.

"Oh, so he didn't touch you enough to make you quaver under him? Well, must not be boyfriend material for you after all." The remark made Tyson nearly choke having Kenny put down his fork and pat his cousin on the back.

"I think you should stop teasing him now, Kain," Rei stated. "Red is not a healthy shade to be. Especially not that shade."

"You take all the fun out of things," Kain pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, my personal life is not to be taken so lightly," Tyson stated. "Ozuma and I are actually going on another date this weekend."

"You finally found you a boyfriend, I think we should rejoice."

"Question," Kenny spoke up. "Did one of you guys call me last week and didn't say a word, someone called me and it was just silence on the other end."

"Not I," Kain said. "Most of the weekend Rei and I were having a study session, if you know what I mean. I learned some—"

"Please, today I would just like to have a normal lunch that does not involve gagging," Kenny interrupted his friend. "I don't think Rei would appreciate you telling about what you did to him to other people, isn't that right Rei?"

"That's right Kenny," Rei smiled.

"Well it's not the first time they've heard things about you and me before," Kain pointed out.

"Well I don't want to hear it today, and I'm sure neither does Tyson. So kindly keep that big mouth of yours shut for a day," Kenny smiled.

Kain gave the brunette another of those looks before he decided not to start, he would get his revenge back sooner or later. "You may have won that round today, but that's only because I'm too busy with other things. Now that I have Tyson out of my hair for a while, I can work on you alone. Thinking on that subject, you're the only one left that isn't involved," Kain said. "Hey Kenny, you know—"

"No," Kenny said immediately.

"But—"

"I said no," Kenny said. "Don't you remember the last time you said you know I was hiding from one girl for months on end? A girl that had one too many dependency issues that I could not support due to my own issues."

"I know, I know, but this time it's not a girl, I know a guy that I've been chatting with in class. He says he's in one of your class. I think you might know him," Kain said. "Tall, red hair—"

"No red heads," Kenny declared.

"But…"

"Do you think I feel like reliving that sort of trauma again?" Kenny remarked, raising his brow. "Remember, the guy that I'm just getting over had red hair, do you want me to fall back into depression?"

"Oh come on, Michael's—"

"You aren't talking about Michael Laytner, are you Kain Culbert?" Kenny interrupted.

"And what if I am, he's not really a bad guy," Kain stated.

"He's not a really bad guy besides all the rumors that he has already slept with half the population of this university between his freshman and his sophomore year, is that what you were going to say Kain? You really aren't thinking about hooking me up with him are you because I will hurt you severely, Kain," Kenny threatened.

The red head that Kain was talking about was the university's resident playboy sophomore, who was interested in getting a scholarship to another school that would get him into professional baseball. It was true that Michael was in Kenny's Sociology class and there had been one or two instances the red head spoke to him, but going out with Michael…it was simple out of the question. For one, Kenny heard that Michael could not keep his attention on male or female long enough and was always seen flirting with someone when he was supposed to be dating someone else.

"Michael isn't as bad as you think he is," Kain grinned. "And that stuff you hear about him, jealous ex-girlfriend. And I when he talks to me, completely interested in you."

"I don't think so, Kain."

"And why not, Michael's always saying he wants to talk to you, but you always seem distant, well now that you're not going to be distant anymore, there's your chance."

"If I didn't know any better, I would think that I just hear my name." The four individuals sitting at the table turned around to find a tall red head and dark blue eyes walking towards them. The guy was wearing a blue and black baseball cap, which matched the dark blue baseball jacket, baggy blue pants, and the black, red, and blue t-shirt.

"Speak of the devil himself, and he shall appear," Tyson replied, finishing his food before getting up from the table. "Rei, Kenny, Kain, I got to hurry up and get to class, I'll catch you guys later."

"Um, wait up for me, after all, we do have the same Biology class," Rei said. "Kain, I will see you back at the dorm, do you work tonight Kenny?"

"I'm off tonight, but I do have to finish my paper," Kenny said, figuring that both Tyson and Rei were doing this on purpose, and knowing that he would kill them later for this.

"Then I will call you later," Rei said. Both he and Tyson got up from their chairs, throwing away the trash they had before heading off to the exit. This left only Kenny, Kain, and Michael. Michael was already taking a seat when Kenny turned his attention back around; his blue eyes studying Kenny interestingly, in a way involuntarily reminding the brunette of Tala.

"Michael, funny seeing you around here, we were just talking about you," Kain grinned.

"I hope good things," Michael produced his own toothy smile, his eyes still remaining on Kenny. "Hey, Kenny, how are you doing today?"

"I'm fine Michael."

"Nothing new in your life?" the red head inquired.

"New…? Well…nothing that I can think of," Kenny shrugged, turning his eyes back to his salad. He really wished the red head would stop staring at him it was making him uncomfortable under the lusty stare. "What have you been up to as of late?"

"Oh not much, just being bored, you know the usual thing," Michael said, mimicking the move Kenny just did. "I suppose you don't have class for a while."

"No, not for another hour, but it gives me enough time to work more on my paper for English." Kenny didn't want to leave an opening for Michael to suggest something then have Kain agree with it, leaving him trapped.

"Oh, I see. I was going to say that if you were free during the time before your next class, maybe you could help me with the assignment Professor Joines gave us last week. I missed the point of the whole lecture," Michael said.

"Well, there really wasn't much to it. It's just covering over what we read in chapter 7. The assignment is explained by pages 389 to 409. A lot of the material for the assignment is really covered on pages 391 to 395." Maybe that would be enough to run him off, then again, it was Michael Laytner he was talking about. A guy who was known to be persistent about things he wanted.

The red head in question thought about what Kenny said before laughing a little. "Always straight forward about things, that's what I like about you Kenny. Okay, since you're being so forward, how about I am also?"

"Okay, what do you want to say?" Kenny had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what Michael had to say.

"I think you have a sexy ass and wouldn't mind dating you," Michael said.

"I…" Kenny couldn't say a word, not even to say his soul. His mind regressed back to a time he remembered all too well. A time he didn't want to think about because of the pain that it still caused him.

-Flashback-

_"You know Kenny, you're a likeable kid. You say all the right things." _

"Is that a compliment?" Kenny smiled.

"Not without the part about you having a great ass being added on."

"There it is again. I swear, you and your cousin are just alike, with the exception that you seem to hate Tyson and Kai seems to want to screw him. I don't know who is worst between you two," Kenny voiced.

"Stay around us long enough and you'll know. Just don't complain to me when Kai has gotten into your pants. Not unless you are a bit like Tyson and resist him. Kai could charm the skin off a snake if he wanted to," Tala chuckled.

"I won't let him! No matter how much he tries, I won't be another conquest," Kenny said determinedly. Tala chuckled more as he laid back in the grass, enjoying the sun on his body. "Why are you chuckling? I'm serious!"

"I know you are," Tala murmured. "I believe you. Now come down here."

"What?" Kenny flushed. "Why?"

"The clouds, the sky clears the mind. Come down and watch it for a while," Tala said, his eyes closing halfway. Kenny noticed for the first time since meeting the male, that he had long lashes. The curved slightly, lowering over his azure eyes, as he watched the sky. Kenny for a second studied the features of the other, amazed at how little attention he had paid beforehand. Tala wasn't simply handsome, by all standards, he was gorgeous. Any girl would probably jump at the chance to go out with him. "Hey, come on."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Okay." With a slightly dark shade of red, Kenny positioned himself to lay beside Tala in the grass. Turning his eyes to the sky, he tried concentrating on the sky, on the clouds, on everything above. And yet, his mind raced, his heart pounded wildly, and he couldn't relax himself. There was electricity between them. So much, he wondered if Tala could feel it also. "Tala..."

"You know, you're too tense," the male beside Kenny said. Propping himself up on his side, he turned to the male on his left hand side. "Relax I'm not going to bite you."

"I-I know."

"Then relax," Tala murmured as he moved a hand to brush the strands of hair from Kenny's face. "You can't see anything with those strands in your face like that." The male almost ignored the slight sparks that leapt across his fingertips when his fingers brushed slightly against Kenny's face. This male was beautiful, Tala could not deny it. And with him laying there in the grass like that...Tala just wanted to kiss him.

"Tala..." Kenny's breath quickened, he couldn't slow it down no matter how much he tried. Something about the way Tala touched him just sent every nerve blazing even if the contact was brief. Kenny turned his eyes to Tala, meeting the dark azure gaze. Lights and shadows flickering within them. Why? Why was he just so gorgeous? Kenny closed his eyes, relaxing as Tala's hand lightly danced across his features. Tracing light outlines of his nose, eyes, chin, and mouth. Kenny found his mouth part slightly, on its own accord.

"Beautiful," Tala whispered, maybe not enough for Kenny to hear, but loud enough for him to realize what he just said and make him move his hand away. He wanted this male, he knew that, but in a different way than anything he ever knew. Tala found his eyes focusing on the slightly parted lips. Tala leaned down towards that mouth, closing his eyes slightly so he wouldn't miss that mouth. "God, you're so beautiful."

-Flashback ends-

"Kenny," Kain said with worry in his voice. Kenny snapped out of his memory to look at both Kain and Michael. Kenny frowned seeing as how both guys were giving him a worried look. Just as he was about to say something, he realized a trail of wetness running down his face. Raising a hand to his cheek, he pulled his hand back. "Kenny…"

"I'm fine…it's just something I remember." Wiping his tears away, Kenny stood up from the chair. "Hey…I'll catch you two later, there's something that I remember needed to be done."

"Kenny," Kain repeated, the concern deeply coloring his words.

"Stop being such a mother hen, I'm fine," Kenny teased lightly. Cleaning up his mess, Kenny packed up and left the table. Once he was gone, Michael focused his sole attention on Kain who was shaking his head, a short sigh escaping his lips watching his friend's retreating figure.

"Should I question what that was about?" Michael wondered. "Was he really crying?"

"I guess he still feels some pain from the past no matter what he said," Kain mumbled more to himself than Michael. The last thing Kain ever wanted to see again was his best friend's tears. When he and Rei first comforted their friend after Kenny found out about Tala, Kain swore to himself if it was in his power he would never watch his friend feel that pain again. When Kenny declared that he wanted to move on and put the past behind him finally, everything seemed like it was getting back to normal finally. But he didn't realize that under the surface, that sort of thing wasn't going to fade so soon.

"What pain, what are you talking about Culbert?"

"Three years ago…he lost someone really important to him to an accident. He's been trying to recover from it since. I guess…what you said reminded him of that person, and the pain he hasn't gotten over yet. If you wouldn't mention any of what I've told you to Kenny that would be a big help."

"An old flame that burnt him badly I see, I guess that I can hold out for him a little while longer," Michael nodded before getting out of the chair he was sitting in. "Well, since the object of my interest is gone now, I suppose I should be getting to class."

"You keep ditching class and Professor Sassler's going to have your ass on a skewer and grilled," Kain smirked.

"Oh, I see how it is now," Michael responded. "I'll see you later then."

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Tyson picked up the phone off the receiver that was by his bed. Cradling the object between his shoulder and his ear, Tyson dialed the number that rested on the table besides the base of the phone. Listening to it ring, he thought about the things happening in his life lately. Not just wanting to become a psychologist, but with Ozuma too. Tyson felt that he needed another opinion on his life, and the perfect person to do that was his best friend in the world.

"Hello, Max speaking," a cheerful, slightly out of breath voice answered the phone after three rings. Tyson immediately felt a grin curling his lips up.

"Don't tell me that I was interrupting something, eh Max?" Tyson said lightly.

"Tyson, oh hi, what's up?" Max said.

"Hey, you didn't answer my question," Tyson teased lightly. He could just imagine his best friend rolling his eyes in that playful manner both were accustomed to before Max answered the question.

"Did you interrupt anything? Let's see, if you mean was I doing something with Zeo then no I wasn't. In fact, I just got back in the dorm good when I heard the phone ring and ran to answer it."

"I guess Zeo gets tired of you at some point. That's good to know, I figured you both joined at the hip still," Tyson laughed.

"Oh, really funny mister comedian, now why are you calling me? It better be something important," Max said. His voice colored with teasing of his own. "Or I'm going to have to come up to Massachusetts to kill you. I suppose you have something interesting to tell me."

"Actually, I do have some things to tell you," Tyson responded, his voice catching a note of seriousness that Max picked up.

"What's wrong Ty? Did something happen?"

"It's not bad, so don't worry," Tyson smiled. "I just wanted to ask your opinion."

"On?" Max inquired.

"Well…I met someone Max. Well, not really met someone since he's in my psychology class, but I went out on a date with him," Tyson explained.

"You went on a date, that's great! I'm happy you're trying to move on after…well…you know. So what's he like? What's his name?" Max asked excitedly.

"His name is Ozuma and he's a freshman here where I go to school. He's nice, and probably as energetic as I can be. You could probably say we're almost like two peas in a pod, except for the fact he is very direct and forward about things. But it's not a bad thing because he is considerate of me and my feelings. We had such a great time when we went out last Saturday," Tyson smiled.

"I don't suppose you've kissed him yet, have you?"

"Actually…" Tyson begun, feeling a blush creep to his cheeks. "I have…twice."

"You must really like him then, I'm happy for you," Max congratulated. "I think it's about time that you moved on. I can't wait to tell Zeo the news."

"Wait Max, that's not it. I called because I wanted to ask your opinion. What I wanted to ask your opinion on is whether or not I should really seriously date him. I mean, he's fun to be around and I had so much fun last week, but…"

"Date him, fall in love with him, just don't become a hermit on me," Max interrupted. "You've suffered long enough over what happened to Kai. It's painful, but you can't give up life. This new guy in your life seems like he's what you need to get your heart going again. Don't pass up this chance."

"You really think that it's worth a shot?" Tyson leaned back in the chair, thinking about how nice it would be if he got to know Ozuma better.

"Of course," Max said.

"All right then, I guess I could give it a try," Tyson smiled. "Thanks for the support Max."

"And time, what are friends for after all? Well besides to kill each other," Max laughed. "So, how's Kenny coming along in life?"

"He's fine. He's still working on his book and all. You know, he's the one that made me open my eyes. He told me that he's going to try to move on now. I doubt that Kenny's going to find someone so quickly. A part of him still loves Tala a lot, like a part of me still loves Kai a lot."

"Did you tell Ozuma about Kai?"

"Yeah, and he told me that he would help me smile again."

"You shouldn't worry about Kenny so much, he's resilient. I'm certain that he will pull through and be just fine," Max assured. "And I want you to be happy too, so no moping."

"I understand. Well let me get going Max. Tell Zeo I said hi, and make sure that if you talk to Johnny and Emily before I do, tell them I said hello," Tyson said.

"I will, and make certain you tell Kenny to try to be happy and move on and that I said hi also. Bye Tyson," Max said.

"Bye Max." Tyson hung up the phone with a smile. He supposed that Max was right, he should move on with his life. Turning his eyes to the window, he could imagine Kai looking down on him. "Kai, I'm going to live for the both of us now."

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Rim: I don't know about this chapter. Hopefully the next chapter will be better than this. And please no one kill me for adding in Michael, I have plans involving him. What they are, I won't tell you. Mean, I know, but just think the story is getting interested for chapter 8, so until next time!


	7. Chapter 7

Rim: Yes, I am updating finally, I've been running around so much trying to finish everything else that I haven't had time for this one. But here I am, with nothing better to do…besides play Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

Kain: And we know you're going to be doing that for a while. But put down the Gameboy Advance and write. (Rim continues to play KH: COM) Fine…I'll just start this chapter without you. We would like to thank all the reviewers, and Silverm, we have one more chapter before you know what.

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Kenny ran a hand through his hair, trying to keep his newly cut bangs from tickling his head. Of course he didn't get them cut too short because he was still attached to the way they were, but he had finally got them trimmed back so he wouldn't have so much trouble with them from now on. With a short inspection, he nodded with satisfaction before turning away from the mirror. Looking back over at the bed, he stared at the small bundle of paper bound.

Tonight he was going to go over to Oliver's two bedroom apartment to have dinner with Oliver and an old friend of his by the name of Robert. Kenny was just a bit nervous about this, being that Oliver's friend was about to get his major in English come next April. Kenny didn't know what to expect from the slightly older male. Oliver said there was nothing to worry about, but Kenny didn't know.

He was after all, a novice writer whose been trying to put a manuscript together for almost two and a half years, and he was only on chapter five. Wouldn't most writers be done with a book by now? But this was his life work, he wanted everything about it, every little detail and aspect to be perfect when he finally finished it so that whoever wrote it, could not just say it was a wonderful story, but feel it deep in their souls. That was the promise he made to himself when he finally decided to try the book.

Kain and Rei had kept him from driving himself crazy earlier when they came by earlier to find him panicking. Kain mentioned if he was worrying more about making a good impression if the guy was hot or the guy liking his book more. Of course, he had to scold his blue haired friend earlier anyway for the other day with Michael. Who he in fact was avoiding in case the red head wanted to know what was wrong with him.

In exchange for the light scolding, Kain apologized for it, saying he didn't know that Kenny was going to freak out like that. Afterwards he commented that at least he stopped panicking about his dinner date with Oliver and his friend. In times like that, Kenny thanked God for his friends, and their support.

"I suppose that if anything, a little bit of creative criticism never hurts, it might even make me want to write it more," Kenny smiled, calming himself down over the idea of meeting Robert. About that time, the phone rang, partly startling the teen. Picking it up off the base, Kenny placed it to his ear. "Hello, Shinoda residence, this is Kenny speaking."

"Kenny, it's me, Oliver," the chipper voice said. "Are you almost ready?"

"Well, yeah, I just have to decide whether or not to kill myself now or later," Kenny smiled wearily. "You don't know just how nervous I am, Oliver."

"I can hear it in your voice," Oliver agreed. "But there's nothing for you to worry about, everything is going to be fine. So calm down and breathe."

"That's easy for you to say, you've know the guy since you were nine," Kenny stated.

"Robert is harmless, you'll see," Oliver laughed. "You're just being silly now, Kenny."

"How do you know?" Kenny said.

"He's a very nice person, you will see. In fact, I sent him with directions to your house to pick you up, he should be there soon, so you get to meet him without me there to make your own conclusion about him," Oliver said.

"You what?" Kenny screamed, everything collapsing into the pit of his stomach. "Oliver…are you trying to kill me?"

"I told you everything will be fine, he's not going to give your work one look over then try to hit you with his car or something," Oliver laughed. "He's not that type of person, so cheer up. I'm sure that you two will get along well. I just called to tell you that much."

"Oh, thanks a lot, Oliver," Kenny said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Remind me when I get there to thank you for the surprise, if I arrive in one piece."

"You're going to arrive in one piece, so enough of that. I have to check on the food now. I'll see you in a few minutes." Kenny hung up the phone with a slight sigh, just as the doorbell rang. With a groan, Kenny listened to his mother's footsteps below as she walked to the door. He was really going to kill Oliver if he got through this interview alive and with his sanity intact.

"Kenny, a friend of yours is here!" his mother yelled from the bottom of the steps. "Do you want me to send him up?"

"No, don't worry, I'll be down in just a minute," Kenny yelled as he snatched up the bound pages of his manuscript off the bed. Checking his appearance in the mirror one more time to make sure that he looked fine, Kenny headed for the door. He wondered what this friend of Oliver's was like. From what Oliver had said before, Robert must be a very serious person, Kenny's opposite in a lot of ways. He had a feeling this wasn't going to work out.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Kenny headed for the living room where he heard his mother and a man's voice. Walking into the living room, Kenny saw his mother sitting in a chair, talking to a guy who was seated on the couch. The woman looked up at her son who just walked into the room with a smile. "Kenny, why haven't you brought this young man around the house beforehand? You know I like meeting all of your friends."

"He's a friend of another friend of mine. He's staying in town for a week or two," Kenny said, as the man on the couch was standing up to greet Kenny. "Um, hi, I'm Kenny, you must be—" Kenny's sentence paused right there as the man turned into full view to reveal the guy with purple hair from the store he served the other day; the one that he had so embarrassingly stood there staring at for a long minute.

Maybe he wouldn't remember Kenny. And if he did, he prayed to all the forces above that this guy did not know why Kenny had stared at him for those brief seconds. He would never live it down if it was brought up. He was trying not to make a bad first impression, yet that little note hung over Kenny, especially if Robert remembered it.

"You're the young waiter from the Starbucks." So there was recognition for him also. Now if only he didn't remember Kenny was staring at him, drool practically coming out of his mouth. Okay, maybe that was exaggerated, but it seemed almost true.

"Yeah…my name is Kenny Shinoda, it's nice to meet you," Kenny said.

"And I'm Robert Jurgen it's a pleasure to meet you, Kenny. You don't mind if I call you that do you?" Robert said with a smile.

"Oh, no, of course not," Kenny said immediately. "Oliver called me just a minute ago to tell me that you were on your way to pick me up, I really appreciate it."

"It was no problem a friend of Oliver's is a friend of mine also. So, shall we get going?" Robert inquired.

"Of course," Kenny nodded then turned his eyes to his mother. "Mom, I'll be back later. A friend of mine is making dinner so just make enough food for you and dad. I should be back by one."

"Well you have a good time, and it was nice meeting you Robert," Kenny's mother said with a smile.

"It was nice meeting you too ma'am and I promise to get him back not too late," Robert said as he followed Kenny out the living room and front door. "Your mother is such a sweet person."

"Thanks," Kenny said, looking up slightly to study the older man beside him. Robert was dressed in a button down white shirt and a pair of blue denim pants with a light jacket over it to stave off the cool weather of the night. "I suppose that this is as much as a surprise for you as it is for me…with the meeting at my job before."

"Yes, it is indeed," Robert said. Lowering his dark eyes to study Kenny, who was looking down at the sidewalk, Robert felt a light smile rise. "There is nothing for you to be afraid of I'm not going to kidnap you."

Kenny looked up at the older, a blush creeping into his cheeks. "I wasn't thinking that. Don't mind me I guess I'm just a little nervous that's all." Kenny lowered his eyes to the halfway written manuscript in his hands.

"Is that the novel you've been working on?" Robert asked.

"Yes…it is." He seemed nice enough like Oliver told him, but a part of Kenny still was on guard in case, well…who knew. What was he going to think of the idea? Kenny would hate for Robert to call it a piece of trash that would never be published, or asked Kenny why he would think the idea would work in the first place.

"I'm very excited to read it," Robert said, opening the door on the passenger side to the midnight blue four-door Alero sedan that was parked on the curb. Kenny got in with a short thank you and watched Robert walk around to the driver side. Getting in, he finished what he was saying. "Oliver told me about what an amazing writer you are."

"I'm not that amazing," Kenny argued. "I'm still a novice at this I mean I didn't want to be a writer until about two years ago when I first started working on it. And it's only halfway done now."

"You can't rush brilliance," Robert said with another smile. "A great work takes much time to complete, especially if you're putting your soul into it." The remark caused Kenny to look up at Robert again, who still had a smile on his face. A light blush crossed his cheeks again as he smiled. Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"Thank you for saying that," Kenny replied. "I have been working on it for a long time, and I am trying to put my soul into it. I promised myself that I would make people understand the feelings I placed deep into this work. Maybe find someone who relates to it."

"You're not writing it just for yourself, are you?" Robert inquired as he inserted the key into the ignition, cutting the car on. Fastening his seat belt, Robert took the car out of park.

"No, I lost…" Kenny paused in his sentence, feeling the emotions rising as he followed suit with his seat belt. "I lost a love three years ago when his uncle killed him and his cousin. I don't know all the details, but his life was full of pain, until he met me, then he began opening up to me. This book is also to tell his side of things, so some part of him won't be lost to this world."

"Was he your first love?" Robert asked, looking over to Kenny. Their eyes met, and Kenny was glad that he only saw curiosity within those dark eyes.

"My first love yes, but it was more. I never felt like there was just one person meant for me in this entire world, but after I lost him…I think he was my soul mate. As foolish as it sounds because I was only fifteen at the time," Kenny answered.

"Love isn't something that cares about age. Nor do all people ever claim to have found their soul mate, you are one of the lucky few," Robert smiled.

"You don't…think that…I'm…"

"I would never think that of you, Kenny, or be that judgmental of anyone. I'm not that sort of person at all," Robert assured. The more that Kenny talked with Oliver's friend he found himself liking the other's company more. Well, he suppose that he would have to admit Oliver was right about him being silly for panicking over what Robert would think of him. It looked as if they would become fast friends.

--------ooo--------

"So, what do you think of Robert?" Oliver asked Kenny while the brunette was helping him carrying out the small basket of bread he baked for the meal. In Oliver's hands was a large tray with three plates covered with lids. "Do you still find him to be unnerving? Or have you discovered that there is nothing to fear of him?"

Kenny knew Oliver was referring to the way he and Robert came in the apartment talking about different things. Even in the corner of his eyes he saw the satisfied curl of a smile appear in the corners of Oliver's mouth. "He's an interesting person. On the way over we talked about my novel and he was telling me that he was anxious to read it. I have to say you were right."

"See, he isn't so bad," Oliver said. "I would never stir you wrong, so you were being silly for nothing."

"I will admit it this time," Kenny announced.

"What are you admitting to Oliver, I have to tell you it goes straight to his head, so you should watch it, Kenny," Robert said as the two came back to the table, setting down the food. Kenny laughed, looking over to find Oliver staring at Robert with a look that seemed to be a routine between the two. "Oh, don't give me that look Oliver you know that I was jesting with you."

"Just because you're two years my senior Robert, that doesn't mean I won't hesitate to tell Kenny about some of your most embarrassing moments I can recall," Oliver said, setting a plate in front of Robert, one where Kenny would be seated and the last one where his chair was. Kenny set the basket of bread near the middle of the table before taking his seat. "Like the time when your tutor caught you—"

"All right, I give," Robert yielded, but not before Kenny caught a dusty rose tint sprinkle his cheeks. Oliver gave his friend a sweet smile that was underlined with mischief.

"I thought you would say that," Oliver said seating himself. "I am happy to unveil my first creation. Gentlemen, you may remove the lids. I present to you Poulet a la Montrachet." Kenny removed his lid to find chicken breast halves surrounded by mushrooms, spring carrots, and onions covered in a creamy white sauce. "Instead of using a whole chicken, I substitute the recipe for just the breasts."

"Seasoned with tarragon, thyme, rosemary, parsley, and Bay leaf? With a taste of white burgundy, another excellent dish, if I do say so myself, Oliver," Robert commented as he sampled his plate. Kenny picked up his fork and knife, cutting the tender chicken and eating some. He wasn't expecting the flow of tastes to blend into one unique emergence of flavor.

"Wow…I knew you were a good cook, but this is excellent Oliver," Kenny declared.

"Thank you Robert," Oliver said. "And I appreciate your comment Kenny. Now you the next time you make fun of my cooking being salty or inedible remember that I won't cook for you again."

"Now I'm going to have to find another purpose of teasing you," Kenny joked as he took another bite. "I'm going to feel sorry for your wife if she tries to cook for you, this is some high expectations you're setting for her."

"He has a point Oliver," Robert stated.

"I wouldn't want my wife to think she has to out shine me," Oliver said. "I will love her no matter what."

"This is intimidating, I think you will go far Oliver. Maybe even open your own restaurant if you don't make it as a painter. I've been meaning to ask you, how has the search for a new painting come along?"

"Not yet, I've been placing my studies elsewhere. Right now, I'm learning about Chinese, Japanese, and Italian cuisine. I want to do more than just French cuisine," Oliver said.

"I can't remember the last time I've eaten authentic Japanese food," Kenny said. "After my great grandmother on my mother's side of the family died, no one here ever cooked the traditional meals anymore. I was probably about seven or eight at the time."

"Your family originates from what part of Japan?" Robert asked, looking up from his food at Kenny.

"Well, my great grandfather came from Kobe. My great grandmother lived out in Kyoto for a while before meeting my great grandfather in Okayama. I was born here in the states," Kenny answered.

"With your great grandmother being straight from Japan, did she ever teach you the language when you were small?"

"She made it my second language. She always told me that I should have a strong foundation for my heritage. I was writing kana long before I could say my alphabets. Even after she and my great grandfather died, I was still studying before I got into computers. Well…I really can't say that. I still have a large interest in the language and still love to keep up with my studies," Kenny smiled.

"It's a wonderful language," Robert nodded. "I spent more than half a year there when I was about five and learned much during my stay. Then I went back for vacations one or two times because I had such a pleasant experience there."

"By the way Robert," Oliver said, pausing in eating. "Have you decided yet where you're going to move to once you finish up your last few credits this April?" For a long minute, Robert thought on the subject then shifted his eyes to his friend.

"I've already begun checking out living quarters in Virginia and New York. When I get my Associates degree in Art, there's a good chance I'll move to New York, there's greater opportunity in that direction," Robert answered. "I plan to either work my way up to be an editor for a publishing company or a magazine. Maybe do newspapers for a while to make some cash."

"Do that, you can put in a good word for me when I finally finish my novel," Kenny voiced. "After I finish, I'm going to need some connections."

"I will be more than happy to lend you a helping hand to get your career started," Robert smiled. "And I have a feeling that so far, your manuscript will touch hearts from what I've heard so far." Kenny looked down with a slight blush at the comment. He hoped that Robert was correct in his expectations.

---------ooo----------

"I'm thinking that the dinner went well?" Kain inquired finally while drinking a mocha latte. Kenny was on break from waiter duty since it was a slow day. It was probably due to the cold rain that was pouring outside, no one wanted to be caught out in the weather. Kain and Rei came by knowing that Kenny was going to be bored out of his mind with no one to converse with.

Only when they got there, the two found Kenny talking happily with a young man with purple hair as if they were the old friends. It had been a while since either Kain or Rei could honestly say the brunette looked that happy, laughing and talking with anyone other than them or Tyson.

Only after the man left did the two approached their friend who was watching the rain and eating a piece of coffee cake. That, of course, was only ten minutes ago. The brunette now looked up from his coffee cake to stare at the other two seating with him. Tyson was off of work and was on yet another date with Ozuma.

"The dinner?" Kenny asked. "You mean with Robert and Oliver?"

"Of course, what else do you think we were talking about?" Kain rolled his eyes. "So, do you think he's hot or not?"

"Is that all you think about when it comes to me doing things?" Kenny flushed.

"Well, you wouldn't have blushed when I said it, now would you? Not to mention you looked so cozy sitting here with him. So, you think he's hot, don't you? So, you plan on investing a little more time away from us?" Kain smirked.

"Shut up! It's not like that at all!" Kenny protested.

"Is that so? So you didn't get a good night kiss from him the other night? That's too bad, at this rate your cousin is going to get a head start in getting laid again," Kain laughed.

"Can you possibly shut your damn mouth for once in your life?" Kenny's cheeks were by now the color of apple red. And he was doing everything he could not to jump across the table to strangle his friend. There was nothing between him and Robert, in fact he doubt there could be. It was true that they were hitting it off well, but the interest between them was platonic, and Kenny doubted that it was going to be more.

Not that he was wanting more, he was happy to find someone to converse with who had so many interests, one being Kenny's progress in his novel. He had even exchanged phone numbers with Robert so they could continue to talk when Robert went back to Washington. But he knew if he told Kain, the blue haired idiot would take it the wrong way, exclaiming that Kenny had a thing for Robert and so on.

"Kain stop teasing Kenny?" Rei finally said. "I don't think that Kenny feels that sort of ties to his new friend, am I right, Ken?"

"At least someone thinks so," Kenny praised. "Thank you Rei for saying the most obvious thing in this situation."

"I had a feeling. You don't have that glow in your eyes. Like the one you had with Tala," Rei said simply. "Though, it would have been nice if you could bring yourself to fall in love with someone you seem to enjoy company with."

"Robert's a really interesting person. He's about to graduate from Washington State this coming April, and he's going to get an Associates in Art. I let him look over what I've written so far and he told me earlier today when he called me that he thought it was going to be excellent," Kenny said.

"An Art major, I see. I understand why you like his company, you have someone to talk to about your book," Rei smiled. "And he goes to State he sounds like he must have a lot of interesting things to talk about. Two great minds flock to each other, so how old is he?"

"He's twenty-one right now, he graduated from high school at sixteen and went immediately into college, but had to take off a year because his mother was in this car accident and he wanted to be by her side for the time she was injured. So technically he would have graduate last year had it not been for the accident. He plans to become an editor for a publishing company or magazine," Kenny answered.

"He graduated at sixteen! Damn…I suppose he was home schooled mostly then?" Kain questioned.

"I think so, he traveled a lot when he was a kid, so I assume that he was home schooled from the time he was five and up. He stayed for five years in Paris, so I guess he finished high school there," Kenny said.

"Hell, if I had graduated at sixteen, my parents would have just thrown presents my way," Kain grinned.

"Yeah, but we know you aren't smart enough to graduate at sixteen…unless you mean elementary school," Kenny suggested. Kain turned eyes on Kenny who went back to his coffee cake. Rei placed a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder, shaking his head no.

"We still want him love," Rei murmured, leaning over to kiss Kain behind the ear.

"If we didn't love you…" Kain trailed off.

"If you didn't love me, what?" Kenny raised a brow to his friend. "You would pick on me more? It's too late for that turn of events. You've said more than we needed."

"Now, now you two, enough of that," Rei said, sounding like a mother stopping her two children from fighting over who has more juice in their cups. "Kain, you should stop teasing Kenny, and Kenny stop making Kain angry. I can only keep him at bay for so long. Now I want you two to apologize to each other."

"Why do I have to apologize when he just called me stupid?" Kain pouted.

"You are an idiot," Kenny stated.

"Kenny, Kain, enough," Rei interrupted. "Now apologize, we can't have blood all over the floor. I don't think they would appreciate the extra clean up of bodies."

"Fine, I'm sorry for saying what I said," Kain sighed.

"And I'm sorry for calling you an idiot," Kenny frowned.

"There, now don't we feel better," Rei chimed. Both teens looked at the golden eyed Chinese with a similar stare, before yelling no concurrently. "Well, I was only trying to help you ungrateful brats!"

"Who's ungrateful?" Kain grinned.

"I'm not a brat!" Kenny declared.

"You're both hopeless," Rei shook his head. "But I suppose that today marks a special day, so I will allow you to get away with it."

"And what day is that? Our anniversary isn't for another half a year," Kain pointed out.

"That I know. What I'm talking about is Kenny," Rei said.

"What about the munchkin?"

"Excuse me?" Kenny cut in.

"Look, I said enough, I'm trying to finish talking," Rei interrupted.

"Go ahead baby, me apologize," Kain murmured.

"Like I was saying beforehand, today marks a very special day." Rei turned his eyes on Kenny who sat curiously wondering what his friend was going to say. Raising his cup, Rei continued his speech. "A day that I will remember for years to come today shall mark the first day Kenny's smile has reached his eyes. The first day that the smile in his eyes has been genuine happiness."

"Rei…" Kenny blinked back the familiar burning behind his eyes.

"I think that's a good thing to toast to," Kain joined in, raising his cup to Rei's. "For our best friend smiling again after losing a smile I thought I would never see again. Even if you aren't in love yet, this is the first step back on that road. So, I want to toast to that first step you're taking."

"Kain…" Kenny couldn't help the tears that slipped down his chin and fell.

Raising his cup to theirs, he realized that it was indeed true. For the first time in three years, the little pieces he had been trying to snap back into the puzzle were finally fitting somewhere. Even if he wasn't ready for love, he found a…companion. Oh, the irony of that conversation with Oliver had. He really would have to get on his friend's case towards slyly setting things up like this.

"And I toast to my friends watching me take my first steps. Thanks for always remaining by my side through all the rough times," Kenny replied.

"Hey, you know, if you don't fall in love with your new friend, Michael still has his eyes on you. You would make a cute couple," Kain voiced.

"Shut up, and let's enjoy my new start in life," Kenny spoke.

"You two never change," Rei declared lowering his cup while shaking his head at the start of yet another banter session between the two. He really doubted that aspect of their lives would never change no matter what came their way.

------------oooooo-----------

Kain: And the chapter is done. Blame Rim if it was horrible. (Rim still playing KH: COM) She hopes everyone enjoyed the chapter and Silverm you don't have to kill her any longer. Your chapter has finally come. Until next week some time everyone.


	8. Chapter 8

Rim: Well, it's a new year, which is all I'm saying on that. Now, let's get to the business at hand.

Ozuma: Finally going to have Silverm stop trying to kill you?

Rim: Well…I think she's still going to kill me, and hug me when she finishes this chapter…so I will still have to hide. But, thanks to all my buddies who reviewed and I have this treat in store for you all.

-----------------oooooo----------------

Kenny was unaware of the eyes watching him work on his Statistical Analysis homework from another table. In fact, he was so wrapped up in his work that when Michael got up from the table he was sitting at—quietly watching as Kenny moved a lock of hair back behind his ear and continue working, and moved to the table Kenny was at—he didn't notice. Kenny continued to scribbled down calculations and apply it to the rest of his equations.

"Slight mistake, should be 750 instead of 833. You should have subtracted instead of adding," Michael finally said once Kenny was stuck on checking his answer and it didn't come up right. The brunette lifted his eyes from his paper, nearly jumping out of his chair when Michael spoke. A short grin came to Michael's face, seeing the shock in the brunette's face. "Are you okay, Kenny?"

"You scared the hell out of me, Michael," Kenny said, sitting back down at the table.

"Good," Michael grinned.

"What do you mean good?" Kenny frowned, while staring at Michael who was giving him a wide toothy grin. "Should I ask why?"

"Well, with me scaring the hell out of you, that means you're nothing but an angel without being a devil in disguise," Michael winked.

"You know…" Kenny said after staring at Michael for a long minute. "That was a very bad pick up line don't ever use it on anyone again. You'll never a date ever again."

Michael sat looking at the brunette for a while before laughing, the smile on his face never wavering as he shook his head. Kenny, who had went back to work on his math, looked up from behind his bangs. He figured that if he insulted Michael, maybe the other would go away. Kenny was still uncomfortable around the red head after that day he was reminded of Tala by what Michael said. "You know, for someone as cute as you Kenny, people wouldn't expect you to have so much wit."

"You thought that was witty?" Kenny blinked. "I was just stating the truth, that's all."

"And you're honest, that's what I like about you, the most. It amazes me that you're still single," Michael smiled. "When I first saw you, I kept thinking that there had to be someone in your life then I began talking to Kain and learned you were single, I was astounded."

"What's so astounding about being single, lots of people do it all the time?" Kenny shrugged. "I haven't found anyone that I want to be with."

"No one at all, that seems like you haven't been looking hard enough. There must have been one person you've wanted to date," Michael said, not believing that Kenny really would just close his heart to the world because of one old flame. "I could not sit here and believe that you don't want to be with something. After all, your friends—"

"Why don't you go ahead and say what I'm sure Kain told you? Why have I closed off my heart after what happened?" Kenny interrupted. "He told you, didn't he?"

The smile on Michael's face faded to the corners of his mouth as he looked across the table at Kenny, looking into the brunette's eyes and seeing apprehension within those blue eyes. "I'm not going to ask you unless you want to tell me about it. Kain didn't tell me much, and asked me not to mention what he said to you. I don't want to bring up any pain for you. And I would like to take this opportunity to say that whatever I said that day, I don't want you to think about it. I would have never said it if I knew you would be reminded of the past."

"No…" Kenny heaved a sigh. "You didn't know about my past, and I can't blame you for how I reacted. And you don't need to apologize for what you said."

"I never wanted to see you cry like that."

"I told you it's not your fault," Kenny repeated. "If people apologized every time they said something that reminded me of the past then I would really get sick of it, so don't worry. I still have a lot of great memories."

"So...what happened?" Michael questioned. "If you want to talk about it that is." Michael scooted himself around the table to sit next to Kenny, looking down at the younger with curious blue eyes. Like the other time, Michael reminded Kenny exactly of something Tala would do. It was like the two were cut from the exact same mold, though he doubted Michael experienced the hardships Tala went through.

"He just faded out of my life after promising me to come here. After he told me he loved me…he just disappeared forever without so much as a good-bye," Kenny murmured, thinking about that night Tala told him everything in his heart. About his uncle, his aunt, his parents, and the pain that he never let go until Kenny came into his life. Kenny would have given his life if it meant seeing Tala again. "I couldn't handle it after he left me alone, after taking my heart with him."

"I've never been that deeply in love with anyone before, I wouldn't know how it felt," Michael said, slowly wrapping an arm around Kenny's shoulders. Kenny really didn't mind so much, remembering all those things about Tala made him want someone to be there, to hold him as he thought for his love. In fact, Kenny even rested his head against Michael's shoulder, staring off into some space in the past.

"It's really painful, waking up each morning crying because you know you will never hear that person again. Thinking that the world hates you for loving another person, for a while I contemplated suicide, but I was too much of a coward to leave it all behind like that. So I stayed and held onto my pain. Kain and Rei were there for me and kept trying to cheer me up. They were probably the main reason I didn't do it, in the first place," Kenny admitted. "It's still unbelievable it was only three years ago."

"You carried that pain through high school, must have really been a lot of heartbroken people lamenting over you then," Michael stated. The remark brought a soft chuckle from out of Kenny. Looking down, Michael saw tears shimmering in the brunette's eyes, with some memory that threatened to take hold of his heart. "What is it?"

"For some reason…you keep reminding me of him…things you say…all of them remind me of Tala. He once told me that if I only loved him, then I would make a lot of people heartbroken," Kenny chuckled again. "It's like the two of you are cut from the same mold."

"Hey now, stop crying." Michael lifted Kenny's head up off his shoulder to wipe away the tears with his thumb. Kenny closed his eyes, allowing Michael to rub his thumb gently across his features. Michael continued to look at the brunette, sitting beside him, with his eyes closed and appearing to want Michael's touch. Or maybe he was imaging it was that other man, the one that broke his soul. And a battered soul he could see behind everything. "Sometimes life isn't fair, but you got to learn to move on."

"I promised myself a while ago I would, but I just keep thinking about him…especially when…" A light blush crossed Kenny's cheeks as he opened his eyes to stare into Michael's eyes. "Especially when you're around, and it's not just what you say that reminds me of him. Same red hair, same blue eyes, same personality in spades…it's funny you know."

"Maybe we are poured from the same mold," Michael smiled.

"I don't want you to think that because of that…I would be biased towards you. You seem like a nice person Michael, but I'm just trying to find myself again right now. I'm not ready for a relationship…not until I find some stability in my life. I hope that you aren't offended by…" That was about all that Kenny got out before he found Michael kissing him lightly on the lips. Pulling back from the red head, Kenny gave the other a long look intently.

"You won't find stability by yourself," Michael replied simply. "In order to find it, you test the waters to see what works and what doesn't. If going out with me doesn't work for you, then you move on, I won't have any hard feelings towards you for it. That just means that it wasn't meant to be."

"And that means you will leave me alone about it and let me find my stability in life?" Kenny said, his voice coloring with annoyance that Michael just ignored everything he just said. Michael sensed the brunette's annoyance with him and began laughing.

"Yes, and you can smack me for that kiss later if it doesn't work out," Michael voiced. "Does that make things even now?"

"Even if I should hit you for that kiss now?" Kenny inquired. "I mean, you're the first person who's kissed me in over a year and a half that I didn't sit close to again for some time."

"Who was the other person?"

"Someone Kain tried to get me to go out with to cheer me up. But she was crazy and had one too many issues with instability…and insanity, while I was just trying to get a handle on my lost," Kenny said, remembering the girl by the name of Amber Ritcher who was a childhood friend with Kain.

"What happened?" Michael found Kenny's head lower back to his shoulder, which meant that Kenny couldn't have been as upset about the kiss as he would have thought. Maybe he even wanted it to happen.

"Kain, Rei, and I were at a party and she was there. She told Kain she broke up with her boyfriend of three years and was looking for someone nice to get to know. He introduced us and we went out a few times, but only as two people who needed someone else's company. The fourth time we hung out she wanted to take it further saying she was deeply in love with me and if I opened up to her, we would be the perfect couple. Then she started telling me about her previous boyfriend, and how I wasn't like him at all," Kenny said.

"Must have been a giant hassle," Michael stated.

"Hassle…more than a hassle. I couldn't give her what she wanted and she just couldn't let go. She kept calling and just wouldn't stop showing up at my house. I had to change my number about four times. Eventually she stopped once she realized that I was in no position to be the person she needed me to be," Kenny said. "The last day I saw her, she said she didn't understand why I just couldn't open up to her, then she left to head back to Baltimore."

"Time has passed, it's now your turn to find out if I'm the one you can open up to, so, what do you say we go out this weekend? I know a great place to just hang out at and listen to local bands play," Michael suggested. Kenny lifted his head up from Michael's shoulder, eyeing the red head.

"You aren't going to take no for an answer, are you?" Kenny questioned, hints of a smile building in the corners of his mouth.

"Of course not, I'm too stubborn for that," Michael answered.

"All right then, this weekend it is."

-------ooo-------

"Kenny…hey, Earth to Kenny, wake up!" Kain snapped his fingers in front of Kenny's face, watching as the teen slowly comes back to the picnic table in the park he, Kenny, Rei, and Tyson were sitting at. Kenny blinked a few times before his eyes focused back on the computer screen that his story was still on and the three guys in front of him. "What the heck were you thinking so intently of?"

"I…" Kenny trailed off, before looking down at his computer screen. From behind his bangs, he saw a huge grin plaster itself to the blue haired teen's face.

"Thinking about your boyfriend again?" Kain teased. "Isn't that sweet?"

"Shut up!" Kenny flushed, though in fact he had been thinking about how he and Michael started going out a few months ago.

It was a slow process for the two of them to actually have Kenny become comfortable just being with the red head since it was Kenny's first try at trying to get into the dating scene. When he first asked Tyson his opinion, not daring to let Kain or Rei know just yet, Tyson told him he was happy Kenny was trying and if it didn't work out then he shouldn't worry.

After the first date…or what could have been called a date, Kenny figured it couldn't be so bad if he was with Michael. The other was being considerate of his feelings and giving him time. Eventually…well…he decided maybe he could take it a little bit further, which was when Kain and Rei found out. Kain was still making him pay for keeping that information secret.

"So you were!" Kain laughed. "Man I love hitting the nail on the head every time!"

"Would you mind leaving my cousin alone?" Tyson said, continuing to make a mini snowman on the picnic table. "Why don't you pick on someone who's going to shoot banter back at you currently? I know my cousin is tired of hearing your mouth once and for all."

It was now late January, almost ready to go into February as the weather continued to be nippy. A fresh batch of January snow fell over the city the night before, adding to the already snow covered trees and sidewalks. The snow heavy branches sagged, occasionally mounds of snow fell to the ground, freeing up branches. The four of them were free on that particular Saturday morning and afternoon and a trip to the park for a bit of youth nostalgia in the form of beyblading was yearned for.

"Maybe I should start on you next?" Kain suggested. He was currently scooping up snow from the ankle deep icy crystalline surrounding the recently dried park table they were sitting at. Kain had wanted to challenge Tyson to a match to see if he still had it, but of course the dish in the park was iced over and they didn't want to take the chance of their beyblades ricocheting out the dish and taking out an eye. So here they sat talking and hanging out before everyone disappeared for the evening.

"Oh, go ahead, feel free to try," Tyson said, creating a little hat for the miniature snowman on the table. "There's nothing you can say that I'm going to be embarrassed about. So just try me and see what happens."

"Oh yes, I keep forgetting that screwing Ozuma has brought your confidence back, right Tyson?" Kain inquired with a crafty smirk. Tyson raised his eyes from his snowman to Kain, a twinkle of mischief in his blue eyes.

"Hey, at least I can say that sex with him isn't boring. As of late I've been having orgasms for both Rei and myself. He seems bored as of late, what's the matter Kain, can't get it up lately?" Tyson laughed, watching Kain's face go completely crimson. Rei just looked away, with a shake of his head, that he wasn't about to get involved with. "Oh! So it is true!"

"Shut your damn mouth!" Kain hissed.

"Hey Kenny, maybe we need to get Kain a prescription for Viagra, I heard that soon they're going to come out with something stronger than Viagra, maybe then Rei will get a little more excitement in his life," Tyson laughed, just as the snowman he was building got smacked with the snowball Kain was making. "Hey, don't take it out your impotency on my snowman, you bastard!"

"Then shut up, you whore!" Kain snapped. "You know that's not funny, or anything to joke about."

"I think it's kind of funny," Kenny finally voiced.

"You of all people need to shut up you nun," Kain said. "I bet you haven't given up any ass to Michael yet, and you two have been going out for how many months now? Almost two, what's wrong, does he got a small—"

"I'll shove mine in your mouth if you don't shut up right there," Kenny interrupted. Not that he had seen what sort of package Michael had, but the guy wasn't there to defend himself from Kain's allegations.

"Oh, finally standing up for your boyfriend…I guess he does have a big—"

"Didn't I just say shut up?" Kenny rolled his eyes. "It's not a matter of defending my boyfriend it's a matter of defending someone who isn't here to defend themselves. I mean, what's the point of it?"

"You know, you just take all the fun out of that," Kain said. "Sometimes I question if you really like—" About this time, a snowball hits Kain square in the face, followed up with Tyson's laughter. Kenny and Rei watched as both got up from the bench and started scooping up snow and tossing it at each other.

"I swear…I don't know what we're going to do with those two, Ken," Rei smiled, before turning his eyes to Kenny who was looking over his story. "So, how's it coming? You sent your friend Robert the first version of your next chapter to review didn't you?"

"Yeah, I sent like the first few papers I have done to him by email. He hasn't given me a reply yet, he's been working on another essay paper for his English class. The last time I talked to him, he told me that it seemed like one paper was coming behind another, and said I should prepare for that when I was finishing up my major," Kenny said, his eyes lifting from the screen to watch Kain and Tyson throwing snowballs at each other.

"Are you still planning to take that trip to Washington to visit him next month?" Rei asked. Since Kenny and Robert became good friends, the two end up spending a lot of time together when Robert came to Massachusetts for the weekends.

During Christmas, when Kenny wasn't with Michael, he spent his time hanging out with Oliver and Robert. Well, a lot of times Robert since Oliver spent most of his time in his cooking classes. Another one of Kain's jokes was made about who Kenny was going to go out with because he doubted Kenny could have both. Even after Kenny finally did decide to go out with Michael, Kain continued to tease his friend over the issue.

"Well, I'm still thinking about it, but I would like to discuss the issue with Michael first to see if he thinks it's all right," Kenny said in an absent-minded way, while watching Kain tackle Tyson into the snow. He almost missed seeing the smile on Rei's face.

"I see that you aren't as impartial to Michael as Kain figured you were. In fact I think you might actually like Michael more than you let on. Since you began going out with him, there's been slight changes in you. Not bad ones though," Rei smiled.

"Is that so?" Kenny murmured. "So what sort of changes are they like then?"

"Well, I suppose they are good changes. You don't seem as agitated as before, and every now and then you actually smile when you talk about Michael. I know you aren't in love with him, but you do feel something for him, don't you?" Rei inquired.

"I suppose that I do like him on some level. He's not as bad as I thought. In a way, he reminds me of Tala," Kenny answered. "He's patient with me, so I can't really complain, and when he does kiss me, I don't really pull away. So, I guess that…eventually, I can open up to him even more. And maybe…"

"You'll be ready to give yourself fully to the relationship," Rei finished the sentence.

"Yeah, I suppose I will," Kenny smiled.

"Hey, what the hell…" The two teens looked up from their conversation to find Ozuma walking up, staring at the scene with Kain and Tyson rolling around in the snow. His green eyes shifted from the scene then back to Kenny and Rei. "Why is Kain on top of my boyfriend in the snow?"

"Ozuma, please help me! He's trying to rape me!" Tyson said, squirming under Kain with snow in his hair. Kain was straddling his chest, another hand full of snow raised in the air ready to be tossed on the male under him.

"You started this fight Tyson, don't you drag Ozuma into it," Kain said, pressing his knees into Tyson's sides more to get him to stop squirming. "Now if you take back what you said, I just may decide that I won't have to show you who's impotent."

"Hey, now, I'm the only one that can toss him down in the snow and have my way with him," Ozuma said.

"Don't you think that's a little bit more than we need to know on a daily basis?" Rei asked. Ozuma turned a giant grin towards the golden eyed teen, taking his hands out of his coat pockets.

"Well, as often as Kain brags about his sexual prowess to me, I think it's only fair," Ozuma laughed, bringing a light flush from Kain.

"You fucking liar! I've never said a damn word to you about how great Rei screams my name out in bed!" Kain shouted.

"Great…I'm never going to get that out of my head," Kenny shuddered while he saved the work he was doing and closed the Microsoft program. "Couldn't you have said that without me hearing it?"

"You shut the hell up, you little bastard!" Kain said, tossing the snowball in his hand at Kenny, but it was caught by the red head that just walked up.

"Another plan foiled, sorry Kain, but can't have you getting my boyfriend sick," Michael said, tossing the snowball back at Kain who was hit square in the face. Michael looked down at the brunette shutting his laptop off. Bending down slightly, he touched his lips to the top of Kenny's forehead.

"How did you know Kenny was here?" Rei smiled, watching as Kenny moved his head up in order for Michael to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"He called me earlier before I left the house and I told him where I was," Kenny said, under the kiss.

"Okay, both of you shoo," Kain said, waving his hand towards his best friend and the red head. "I don't want to see you two being all cutesy and what not. Do that in the comfort of…anywhere that's not near me."

"Fine," Michael smirked, pulling Kenny up from the bench once the brunette was finished putting up his laptop in his carry bag. "I need to talk to him without some nosy people listening in anyway." The remark brought a smile from out of Kenny, watching his friend turn red.

"Bravo, you've managed to turn him the exact color I was hoping for," Tyson laughed.

"Shut up, Tyson," Kain shouted.

"Oh, now you try to tell me to shut up when I'm not the one to piss you off," Tyson grinned. That of course got him another hand full of snow in the face. Before Kain could assault him once more, Ozuma tossed a snowball at Kain's head. Kenny shook his head as he got up from the bench and followed Michael away from the group. For a few minutes, all that could be heard was the crunching of the snow under their feet.

"You had something you wanted to tell me?" Kenny inquired, looking up at the red head whose eyes watched the sky for a long minute.

"More so, something I wanted to ask you," Michael said.

"Go ahead and ask it," Kenny said.

"Well…I was wondering if you've changed your mind yet?" Michael shoved his hands into his pockets, turning his eyes down to Kenny. Kenny frowned, thinking of what Michael meant by the question. "I mean have you changed your mind about us yet? Do you…still think I'm not causing enough stability in your life?"

"Oh, you mean that," Kenny responded. "You know, I was just thinking about what you said to me before we started going out today, maybe about fifteen minutes ago in fact. Rei was also questioning me on our relationship, and I realized that maybe it isn't such a bad thing after all. I mean the two of us."

"So, have I given you a bit of stability that you've sought?" Michael wondered.

"Well, I don't think that you've made me worse," Kenny thought.

"You don't think?" Michael blinked, before he caught his boyfriend covering up the smile spreading across his face. "You know, that's what I'm going to have to break you out of. You know it's mean to tease me like that."

"Well, you started it," Kenny pointed out. "Why would you ask me such a stupid question in the first place, if you didn't think I would tease you?"

"How is that a stupid question?" Michael protested.

"Well, you should be able to tell whether or not you're being a pillar in my life without asking that question. I haven't pushed you away once when you've kissed me. I've never objected to any place we've gone. And you know how I'm not hesitant to say those things when I don't want to do something," Kenny pointed out. "So, it's a stupid question."

"Well excuse me for being considerate of your feelings that you may not have wanted to say then," Michael pouted. "You're such a mean boyfriend, what am I going to do with you now?" Michael stopped by a tree and pulled Kenny to him, pressing the younger against his body. Leaning down, Michael kissed the brunette, moving a hand under Kenny's shirt to run his fingers against Kenny's skin.

"Michael…" Kenny whispered. "Not here…not now…"

"Why not?" Michael murmured, moving Kenny so that his back was against the tree and Michael was kissing his neck lightly, moving his cool hand to stroke the warm skin. Kenny lightly shivered, feeling his boyfriend move the shirt he was wearing up inch by inch.

"Because we're in a park, out in the open," Kenny flushed, lightly pushing Michael away from him. "I don't want to take the chance of someone walking by and finding us in the snow like that."

"Fine, how about we take it back to my apartment then?" Michael said.

"I don't think that's going to work either," Kenny said, shaking his head. "I don't think I'm ready to take that step just yet. I'm sorry Michael."

"That's okay I understand that you're still trying to get us to everything again. I won't push or force you into wanting to be intimate," Michael sighed, raking a hand through his bangs. Walking back up to Kenny, he used his hand to lift up the brunette's head, kissing his forehead with a light smile. "Do you have to work tonight?"

"What time is it now?" Kenny inquired softly.

"Close to four," Michael said looking at his watch. "What time do you go in?"

"Four thirty, I'm filling in for Josh today," Kenny said. "Don't you have practice?"

"I wanted to see you both I left," Michael grinned. "How about I drop you off at home so you don't be late? Then we can talk about this another time when you're ready."

"Thanks," Kenny smiled. The two continued their walk out of the park to where Michael's black two door, 1999 Ford Mustang sat by a light post near the curb. Pulling out his keys, he unlocked the doors by the remote on the keychain. Kenny pulled the door open and climbed in. Michael pulled the door to the driver's side open and climbed in, putting the key in the ignition.

"So, have any plans for next weekend?" Michael questioned.

"Not as of yet why do you ask?" Kenny wondered.

"Well, my uncle told me that if I wanted to use his cabin one weekend to let him know. I was going to ask you if you wanted to get away for a weekend," Michael said, taking the car out of park and pulling away from the curb. "We can do whatever you want while we're up there."

"Oh, so you can seduce me into a bed?" Kenny said with a light grin.

"Well…that was part of the plan, but the other half was just to let you have some quiet time away from the city and everyone. Maybe you can get some work done on your book, and I can practice my pitching. Nothing wrong with that, so what do you think?" Michael replied.

"I'll get back to you later with an answer," Kenny said. "Fair deal?"

"Sounds like a fair deal to me," Michael said. The conversation between the two died down like it tended to do sometimes to allow both to think. Kenny stared out the window, thinking about his situation with Michael and everything that Rei had said to him before Michael came. Kenny wondered if he would ever like Michael as much as he had Tala. It was true that he was attracted to Michael more, but would it ever be the same? Probably not, he figured, but maybe he shouldn't let that stop him from trying to enjoy life. Michael wasn't such a bad person to be with.

"Hey," Kenny said, as Michael pulled the car to the curb in front of his house.

"What?" Michael said, putting the car in park.

"That idea…with the cabin…it doesn't sound bad, it would be nice to get away for the weekend to get some more of my story done," Kenny voiced. "I can ask Josh to fill in for me, if you want to go next weekend."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure if you're sure," Kenny said. "So, is the offer still open, or do I have to wait to get an answer out of you?" As expected as he unbuckled his seatbelt, Michael pulled him close for a kiss. Michael's lips crushed onto Kenny's, opening his mouth to run his tongue lightly over Kenny's bottom lip to request entrance. Closing his eyes, Kenny yielded to the request, feeling a shudder riding up his spine as Michael's tongue roamed over the interior of Kenny's mouth.

"Consider that your answer," Michael grinned pulling back. "Next weekend then, I'll call you later."

"Okay," Kenny smiled. Climbing out the car, Kenny grabbed his computer bag and headed up the steps to his house. Well, he definitely was going to give Kain something to talk about now. Pulling out his house keys, he was just about to put the key in the door when the door opened.

"Kenny, there you are," his mother smiled. "I was just about to call your cell phone to ask you when you were going to be home."

"Was there something you needed before I got home?" Kenny inquired.

"No, it's nothing like that," his mother shook her head, the smile on her face continuing to widen.

"Um…mother…what in the world are you smiling about? Something good happen?" Kenny didn't know what was up, but he had one of those feelings she wasn't about to tell him. "You aren't going to tell me what it is, are you?"

"Nope!" she chimed. "It's a surprise for you though. It's up in your room, so go ahead and go up." Kenny gave her a slight frown before shaking his head and turning towards the stairs. He didn't know what she had for him, but he figured he would humor her and go upstairs to his room and look. Placing the bag by the staircase, he climbed up the stairs, thinking of possibly everything his mother could have gone while he was gone. Or any events he had overlooked, but nothing came to mind.

By the time he was opening his door to his bedroom, he was all out of ideas. Walking into his room, he looked around, finding everything exactly like he left it. "Sometimes I swear my mother—" His sentence trailed off when he felt someone behind him. Before he could turn around, hands placed themselves over his eyes. He could feel someone's warm breath tickle his ear as the person leaned forward.

"Guess who," an all too familiar voice said softly.

Kenny quickly pulled away from the person behind him, his eyes widening as he tilted his head up. Standing behind him with a giant smile was that same blue eyed, red haired male he fell in love with so long ago. "Ta…la…"

"Hi," Tala smiled. "Haven't seen you in a while

"Hey now, aren't you forgetting about me?" Kai walked into the room, casting his eyes at Kenny with a smile. "He's been anxious to see you since we found your address."

"Kai…but…I…you…" Tears cascaded down Kenny's face as he wrapped his arms around Tala, placing his face into the red head's shirt. Squeezing his eyes shut, he found he couldn't stop the tears even if he wanted. He didn't know how, but Tala and Kai were alive. After all this time, they hadn't died.

----------------oooooo---------------

Rim (grins): And there you go Silverm, as I promised, Tala and Kai. Now you don't have to kill me.

Brooklyn: Correction, she doesn't have to kill you much. Along with everyone else that's going to come scream at you for what you've done.

Rim: Well…that's true, but hey, would it be any fun to let them hook up that easily. I do have a reputation to keep up you know. So everyone, what do you think about the chapter? Good, bad, or do you all just want to kill the writer? (grins) Now that I have that out the way, I can take a break to think up what I plan to do next, later now.


	9. Chapter 9

Rim: Hello everyone, here's the next chapter, written entirely by my sister but we got the idea from a friend of mine, thanks for the ideas Laura. Sissy says hello and said she'll dedicate it to you entirely.

_**-oooooo-**_

Kenny quickly pulled away from the person behind him, his eyes widening as he tilted his head up. Standing behind him with a giant smile was that same blue eyed, red haired male he fell in love with so long ago. "Ta…la…"

"Hi," Tala smiled. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Hey now, aren't you forgetting about me?" Kai walked into the room, casting his eyes at Kenny with a smile. "He's been anxious to see you since we found your address."

"Kai…but…I…you…" Tears cascaded down Kenny's face as he wrapped his arms around Tala, placing his face into the red head's shirt. Squeezing his eyes shut, he found he couldn't stop the tears even if he wanted. He didn't know how, but Tala and Kai were alive. After all this time, they hadn't died.

"It's all right," Tala said, running his hand through the brunette's hair. Tala stroked Kenny's hair until the tears dried and the brunette was able to calm down. Pulling away from Tala, Kenny wiped his face, looking up at the red head once again. He still couldn't believe that this wasn't a dream. Tala was really there, after three long years of trying to imagine the male coming back to him, it finally happened.

It felt in a way both a sense of relief and a sense of fear. As if it was still a dream he would wake up from, finding himself back in the park with the others before making his way home to find nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Then again, it wasn't a dream, Tala and Kai weren't ghosts, or apparitions, or whatever force that scientist tried to prove was out there. They were flesh and blood, after all, Kenny had just held onto Tala, felt his body heat, and heard the soft rhythmic beating of his heart. No dream regardless how vivid the imagination was, could be this real.

"Tala…Kai…" Kenny started to say something, but the words just wouldn't come out. Or more of the fact that Kenny didn't know what to say, he was definitely at a lost for words, so he was happy when Kai filled the space with words.

"It is definitely good to see you again, you've grown since the last time that I've seen you…three years hasn't it been?" Kai grinned walking up to stand next to his cousin. Neither had really changed so much since the last time that Kenny saw them either. Kai still held the same air about him as Kenny remembered, though Tala's presence changed just a bit with the changes in his heart.

"Yeah, it has been a while," Kenny smiled.

"How have you been in our absence? Sorry for taking so long, things got a little complicated while we were leaving," Kai remarked, though his eyes dimmed one or two shades, flickering his auburn orbs across to his cousin who stared out the window. Kenny noticed that Tala's eyes favored that of a soldier returning from battle, having seen things he would rather not talk about.

"You don't have to tell me anything about it now, I won't ask," Kenny replied. "I understand that whatever it was…you have a lot to think about towards it." Kenny watched both pairs of eyes turn to him.

"Thanks we—"

"Kenny." Kenny's mother chose that time to stick her head into the room, her bright smile bringing up the damper of spirits in the room that hung overhead recently. All eyes turned towards the woman, smiles rising in order to conceal the heaviness of the moment of reunion. "How do you like your surprise?"

"It's definitely an unexpected surprise," Kenny smiled genuinely.

"I know it was so nice to speak with both your friends before you came. Kai told me all about knowing Tyson since he was small, and they talked about how they were eager to see you and Tyson after being away so long. They really are great friends to come all the way from Tennessee," his mother smiled.

"Well, we were planning to leave Tennessee anyway three years ago, we were planning to start out on our own, but we weren't able to get a good enough job to work, but then my uncle on my mother's side told us to come up here recently and he would give us a place to stay and some work," Kai lied with a straight face and smile. Of course Kenny knew it was a lie because their uncle was dead. But it was sufficient enough for Kenny's mother to believe.

"I'm so happy for you both," she smiled. "So are you going to be living up here in Massachusetts now?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Well, I hope you enjoy your stay, but I can tell you it's nothing like the country, the peace and quiet here is seldom. And people are always in a rush to get somewhere," Kenny's mother stated.

"Yes, but sometimes you can't expand your soul when the only things you see are the trees around you and the people whose minds were born into those closed areas that never once question anything in this world," Tala spoke up. For a second there was silence before the woman began laughing.

"I suppose that you're right, no one can expand their soul in one place. I hope the experience for you is a good one then and that your souls expand as much as you want them to," Kenny's mother said.

"Thank you ma'am," Kai said, with a slight sigh of relief that she didn't take his cousin's sometimes saccharine nature seriously. "And I'm sure that when we're settled in good, Kenny will perhaps show us around the city."

"Of course you know that I would," Kenny said.

"Oh, speaking of time and the city, Kenny you do remember that you have to go to work today," his mother said.

"I know…what time is it now?" Kenny inquired.

"I think it's 4:07 now," his mother said.

"I suppose I should go ahead and get dressed so I can get going," Kenny said.

"You know…Kenny, if you want, Tala and I can take you to work," Kai voiced. "Our car is outside in your driveway. So take your time, if you think you have to rush."

"Traded in the bikes for a car?" Kenny grinned.

"Of course not, but we figured that getting a car would save us some gas when we really need to go somewhere on the bikes," Kai explained. "You wouldn't think that we've gone soft over the years have you?"

"Of course not," Kenny laughed.

"All right boys let's give him so time to change his clothes, maybe you can help me downstairs with something. There is this box I've been trying to get for a while, come down and help me with it," Kenny's mother said.

"Yes ma'am," both said. Kai walked out the room with a smile, while Tala stood there looking at Kenny for a long moment. His eyes flickered with something undistinguished before the corners of his mouth curved upwards into a soft smile. Kenny tilted his head to the side, wondering what it was that Tala could be thinking.

"Is there something you want to say Tala?" Kenny inquired.

"I'll talk to you about it later," Tala said. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Yeah, I know," Kenny nodded. "It's still…well…amazing that you're here. And—"

"Save it for later when we're free to talk more," Tala interrupted. "Everything that needs to be said can wait, now go ahead and get dressed."

"All right, if you insist," Kenny smiled, watching Tala turn from him and walk out the room closing the door. Once Tala was gone, Kenny walked over to his cell phone and picked the item up. Once cutting it on and dialing Tyson's number, he awaited for his cousin to pick up. Listening to the continuous beeping, eventually he got Tyson's voice mail. Kenny had a feel that if Tyson had his phone on do not disturb already, that only meant he was with Ozuma. "Hey Ty, the first minute you get this message, call me back ASAP, something very important just came up and I need to speak with about it. I'll be at the store tonight until closing if you want to stop by. Later."

Disconnecting, Kenny ran a hand through his hair, thinking about how exactly this was going to work out. It seemed that fate was again playing this funny little game with him; just when he decides to move on finally, Tala and Kai shows back up. Walking over to where his clothes for work laid neatly folded on the end of his desk, Kenny began to undress and take off his shoes, unfolding the clothes on the desk and putting them on when he was done.

"What am I going to do about this?" Kenny buttoned up his pants, sitting on the bed to ties his sneakers back up. He was going to eventually have to tell Tala about Michael, and he still wanted to get in touch with Tyson before he popped up unexpectedly with Ozuma and then armageddon would definitely occur. Kenny knew that when they found out the truth…well…more than likely they would dive back into their shells to cover the pain they would surely feel. Maybe he should ask someone's opinion before leaving.

Picking up his cell phone again, Kenny speed dialed Rei's number, hoping that his Chinese friend was not preoccupied with other things…mainly Kain. Listening to the phone ring four times, Kenny was about to give up hope when Rei finally picked up the phone.

"Kenny? Aren't you supposed to be on your way to work? Do you need me and Kain to give you a ride there?" Rei asked with a touch of concern in his voice. Kenny really did think that Rei had some sort of sixth sense about anything that was ever wrong with him.

"No, I don't need a ride, I have one. I just wanted to call you and ask if you could come by the store when you got the chance, ASAP if you don't have anything to do," Kenny requested.

"Is something wrong?" Rei questioned.

"Well…not really, it's just that I need to speak to you about some things, I don't really have the time to do it now," Kenny explained. "So come to the store, and if you can get in contact with Tyson before I get off work, or before he comes to the store, tell him to call me before coming by. I tried calling him about two minutes ago, and his phone was on do not disturb."

"I assume that it's very important you get in contact with Tyson before anything, isn't it?" Kenny could hear the tone of Rei's voice shift slight.

"Yes, very important but it's nothing absolutely serious that requires you to call every major hospital or police station," Kenny repeated. "So don't worry, everything will be fine."

"All right then, if you say so. Just as soon as I'm done working on my Biology homework, I'll drag Kain with me over your way. Now get to work before you're late," Rei advised.

"I'm going, and thanks, Rei."

"What are friends for," Rei said. "Later Ken." Both hung up their phones, and Kenny continued to finish up dressing. Looking at the clock, the numbers read 4:12, giving him 18 minutes to get to work. Of course that was plenty enough time, seeing as how the store was only two blocks from where he lived anyway. Getting up from the bed, Kenny grabbed the other things that were sitting on the desk and headed downstairs.

He found Tala carrying a box from one of the top shelves of the closet to the table in the living room. Upon Kenny's appearance, he set the box on the couch next to where Kai was sitting. "Are you ready to go now?"

"Yeah," Kenny nodded.

"Leaving now Kenny?" his mother asked, walking back into the room. "I hope you have a good day at work, and thank you so much Tala and Kai for your help with getting those boxes down from the top shelf for me."

"You're welcome," Kai said, standing up from where he sat. "If there's anything else that you ever need done while around, don't hesitate to ask."

"Bye mom, I might be a little late coming home, so don't worry about saving me anything, I get something while I'm out," Kenny told his mother as he headed to the door with Tala and Kai following close behind.

"All right, bye sweetie."

Outside, the three young men walked over to driveway, Kenny spotted the four door, dark red 2000 Kia model. Taking out the keys, Kai unlocked the doors automatically and got in the driver's side. Tala opened the door for Kenny. Once the brunette was in the back seat, he closed the door and got in the passenger's side putting on his seat belt. Kai put the key into the ignition, and put the car in reverse.

"So where's this place that you work at anyway?" Kai inquired as he back out of the driveway, into the street.

"Two blocks from here in fact, I'm sure that you passed a Starbucks on the way here, right?" Kenny asked.

"It was that Starbucks that was connected to the bookstore beside it, right? You work there, or next to it?" Kai put the car in drive and headed out of Kenny's neighborhood.

"I work there at the Starbucks," Kenny finished just as his cell phone rung. Looking down at it, he expected to see Tyson's number flash on the color screen, but saw it was Robert's. With a short smile, he cut it on and placed it to his ear. "Is there anything I can help you with Mister Jurgen?"

"No," Robert said, his voice tinged with humor. "I just called to tell you that if I were you, I would hurry up and finish this chapter, before I have to make the trip there to kill you for the rest of it."

"So, I suppose you enjoyed it?" Kenny questioned.

"As always very well written, I give you praise, but I did have one or two corrections to it, nothing major, just a few words that your computer missed during spell check. I will email it back to you as soon as I can. Right now, I'm getting ready for class. I just wanted to call you and tell you that I received the chapter," Robert said.

"Have fun in class and learn something," Kenny said.

"Are you implying something?" Robert asked.

"Nope, why would I do such a thing as that?" Kenny asked. "You should get to class now, Mister Jurgen."

"I will scold you later," Robert said, Kenny just imagining the smile in the corners of his mouth as he was probably shaking his head. "I will call you tomorrow and we can speak longer, when I have time to scold you."

"Yes sir," Kenny laughed hanging up. Placing his phone back in his shoulder bag strap that contained his laptop, Kenny looked up to find a pair of auburn eyes on him. "That was a friend of mine, his name's Robert Jurgen. My editor and the one line of sanity that keeps me from being put in a mental institution."

"Your friend keeps you from a mental institution?" Kai raised a brow, turning his attention from Kenny over to Tala. The corners of Kai's mouth curved into a low frown noticing how the male beside him shifted his eyes from the side mirror, which he had been using to watch Kenny, now to the scenery in front of him. Kai could practically make out the lines of envy flashing deep within Tala's azure eyes, which was not a good sign because later the red head would be moody as hell, leaving Kai to deal with it. Hopefully it wasn't anything close to what Tala was thinking or expecting as Kenny continued to speak.

"I told you, he's my editor, I started writing a book a while ago he's been helping me work on it for a while now. Whenever I have some new material written I send it to him over in Washington where he goes to school at. He just called me to tell me he received the first version of the next chapter I've been working on," Kenny said, unaware that Tala was tittering on the lines of a bout of jealousy and a moment of relief.

"How did you meet your friend if he stays all the way over in Washington?" Kai asked, knowing it was better to not let Tala speak because who knew what would come out of his mouth.

"Through my friend Oliver, he's a sophomore at the college I attend. Oliver was in the store one day and saw me working on my book and he got interested in the work I was doing. Just recently Oliver introduced the two of us since Robert was majoring in English and figured Robert could help me work through bouts of writer's block," Kenny responded. "I think if it wasn't for him, I would have given up in frustration and torched the book by now."

"I don't think you should talk like that. I'm sure that your novel isn't so bad, in fact I bet it's going to sell millions of copies and be a best seller," Kai beamed.

"Thanks for saying that, I hope that when it's finished, those dreams do come true. I would love for people to be able to read my book and find a place for it in their hearts," Kenny spoke softly with a smile playing on his lips.

"So what's your book about, I'm going to want to read it when you get it published," Kai questioned.

"Well…" Kenny sat back in the seat, looking out the window for a second as the car passed the library, taking a right at the end of the street. "I suppose that the best way to explain the story in a short summary would be that it was inspired by my stay in Tennessee three years ago. The title of the book is going to be Oleander Summer."

"Where did you get that title from?" Kai inquired.

"Love may seem like an oleander, but if handled with care, it won't kill you inside when you touch it or take it in," Tala murmured softly, but not low enough not to be heard by the other individuals in the car.

"You remembered," Kenny said. "I didn't think that you would remember that talk."

"What talk?" Kai shifted his eyes from his cousin to the brunette in the back seat. "You had a talk involving oleanders and love?"

"The title of my book, it comes from a talk that Tala and I had back in Tennessee. It was during the time he was in Mrs. Tate's private office being taken care of for his broken ribs. The book itself is like a fictional account of things during the summer, and a little bit before that summer we met," Kenny explained.

"Explain," Kai voiced, turning into the parking lot of the Starbucks. Putting the car in park and cutting off the ignition, he shifted his eyes back to Kenny who was already opening the car door. "Hey, where do you think you're going without explaining?"

"Work," Kenny laughed. "You both are welcomed to come in if you want. I doubt it's really going to be that busy right now, so we can finish this conversation."

"We have nothing to do for the rest of the day, so why not. What do you think Tala?" Kai addressed the question to the red head staring at the dashboard. Immediately the blue eyes lifted from its resting place, focusing on the auburn eyed young man. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Tala nodded. "I think if Kenny doesn't believe we're going to be pest while he's working, then let's go."

"All right then, it's settled."

_**-oooo-**_

Kenny weaved around the table towards the group of girls that were regularly coming to the store. Of course they were high school girls that always seemed as if they were trying to ask him for a date every time he worked. Today was going to be no exception as he reached the table and all four of the girls focused in on him with immediate interest.

"Hi Kenny, how are you doing today?" a girl with long curly russet hair chimed, her bright brown eyes never leaving his face while picking up the mocha Kenny placed in front of her.

"Hello Amber," Kenny smiled, wondering in the back of his mind how in the world he was a magnet of attraction for girls between the ages of 13 to 17 and everyone over that age limit was male. The logic behind it continued to astound him.

"My brother's not working today?" Kenny turned his attention to a girl whose hair was tied back in a ponytail had the same dusty, curly hair as Josh. Her face was sprinkled very lightly with freckles. Pushing up her silver, thin rimmed glasses back up on her eyes she tilted her head to the side with a smile.

"Your brother decided to have a little him time today Melanie. Want me to give him a message the next time I see him?" Kenny inquired. A while ago Kenny learned from Josh that Melanie was only his half sister. After his mother died when he was five, his father remarried and Melanie was born a year later. When Josh moved from home, it didn't leave him much time between work and school to see his sister who adored him. Whenever she came down for the weekend from Rhode Island, Josh always tried to find time to spend with her. The other three girls went to Melanie's school up in Rhode Island. Amber was the one with driver's license, driving her friends down each weekend for a little fun before heading back up to Rhode Island for school.

"Don't worry about it grandmother told me that she would drag him over her house this weekend to see me," Melanie said.

"You're staying with your grandmother this weekend instead of your uncle and aunt?" Kenny said, placing the other drinks in front of the other two girls, Savannah and Ronnie.

"Yeah, Uncle Jacob and Aunt Gwendolyn went out of town, so my grandmother said we could stay at her place for the weekend," Melanie responded. "By the way Kenny, I noticed that you walked in with two other guys. At first I thought one of them was Kain, but he never goes anywhere without Rei. So, who are they?"

"The one with red hair is cute," Savannah giggled.

"I like the one with the dual hair, is that his natural hair color?" Ronnie grinned. "I would love to find out."

"You are such a pervert," Amber rolled her eyes.

"Well, I can't blame her," Savannah voiced. "They're hot."

"Those are two of my friends. The one with dual hair is named Kai Hiwatari and the one with red hair is his cousin Tala Ivanov. They just recently moved up here from Tennessee," Kenny said.

"They're cousins! That is so cool! Are all country boys that hot in Tennessee, or are they special exceptions?" Ronnie inquired.

"I don't care, are they single?" Savannah chimed.

"Well…" Kenny really didn't know what to say in that situation, after all…he and Tyson were suppose to be with the two, but because of whatever it was that happened three years ago, forced both to move on. Now Tyson was with Ozuma. Kenny knew that Tyson by now was deeply in love with Ozuma, but what would he do when he discovered that Kai wasn't dead? What was Kenny going to do?

While Kenny spoke with the four high school girls at the table who were asking the brunette all sorts of questions considering Tala and Kai, Kai questioned his cousin about the silent mood he fell in. Kai leaned back in his chair, with his arms crossed looking at the red head looking out the window of the store.

"Should I ask what's wrong with you?" Kai said after a long minute. "You were about to run out of your pants to see him, now you're acting like it's the end of the world as we know it. I haven't seen you this moody in months."

"I have ever right to be moody don't I?" Tala scoffed.

"Stop being grumpy and cheer the fuck up before I have to kick your ass in gear," Kai threatened. "What's wrong with you?"

"Obviously you don't see it?" Tala muttered.

"See what? What the hell are you're talking about Tala?" Kai frowned.

"You fucking idiot, can't you see that he's only happy to see me or even you is because we're alive. After what happened, they probably figured we died, or were killed. He's not happy because we can be together again, he's already moved on with his life," Tala responded. "I'm sure that guy he was speaking to on the phone was more than just a friend whose been helping him with his book."

"You aren't going to believe that are you?" Kai exclaimed softly.

"Yes I'm going to believe that because it's true. He's moved on, I should have figured as much. I'm pretty sure that Tyson has moved on also. I don't know why either one of us figured they would wait around for corpses or a miracle," Tala said. "I suppose that we're to blame since we did disappear for three years."

"Stop being so pessimistic," Kai stated. "We don't know if any of that is true. Do you really think that Kenny would just not mention something like that? You saw how happy he was, I don't think it's just from knowing we were alive. There was no hesitation in his voice when he spoke about his friend. I doubt he has been able to get over you that easily, so shut the hell up. Everything is going to be fine."

"And when it isn't and you learn the truth…" Tala muttered.

"Didn't I just say shut the hell up?" Kai warned. "Unless you want my foot up your ass—"

"Already threatening Tala, Kai?" Kenny walked up with an amused smile on his lips. "I guess that will never change for you both, huh?"

"Just a bit of disagreement amongst family, nothing serious," Kai smiled, glaring over at Tala to put a smile on his face or at least look happy. "He's in one of his moods. Would you like to do the honors of bashing his skull open for me?"

"I don't think I want to clean Tala up off the floor, he is still valuable you know," Kenny teased. Kai blinked, a mock show of surprise passing over him.

"He's valuable?"

"Yes, he's very valuable," Kenny chuckled. "So don't kill him."

"If he's that valuable, then I'll try not to dent him up too bad," Kai grinned wickedly.

"Thank you so much," Kenny laughed. "Do you want anything to drink while I'm standing here, or you can go check out the bookstore for a while? After all, I'm going to be working for a while."

"I think we're both fine for now."

"All right, let me see if they need anything in the back and if they don't I can come sit with you two and talk." Just as Kenny was leaving the table, Rei walked in, dragging a very whiny Kain who looked agitated and half asleep. "Hey Rei, you really didn't need to drag him along if the baby was taking his nap."

"Fuck you." Kain stuck his middle finger up at Kenny. "What the hell did you need to talk to Rei about that was disturbing my much needed—?"

"I don't want to hear whatever it is about to come from out your mouth," Kenny scrunched his nose up in disgust as he made his way over to the two. "Rei, you really didn't need to come this quickly if you were working on your Biology. I mean, I've only been here for thirty minutes."

"I finished my work and I was worried, so what is it that you needed to speak to me about?" Rei inquired, letting go of Kain who muttered something about munchkins and sex. Both remarks Kenny chose to ignore.

"Well, follow me," Kenny instructed, leading Rei and Kain over to the table where Tala and Kai sat curiously watching the three. "Rei, Kain, I want you to meet Kai Hiwatari and Tala Ivanov, the two that met three years ago when I went to Tennessee."

"You mean that they are—" Rei kicked Kain in the leg before he was able to finish the sentence he started, following it up with a stare. Getting the message, Kain redirected what he was going to say. "That you met."

"Yeah," Kenny nodded. "Kai, Tala these are my two best friends…or at least best friend and his pet monkey, Rei Kon and Kain Culbert."

"It's nice to finally meet you both," Rei bowed.

"Who the hell are you calling a pet monkey you bastard?" Kain glowered.

"So he's the one that you said was as much of a freak as Kai?" Tala inquired to Kenny, pointing at Kain.

"You know…I resent that comment," Kai protested.

"How the hell do you get off calling me a freak to other people?" Kain voiced at Kenny. "You're the one losing your virginity to people in someone private office, you kinky little whore. Speaking of that…" Kain turned his attention to Tala. "I've wanted to speak with you about taking my baby's virginity."

"First you call him a whore, now you're saying he's your baby, make up your mind," Tala said.

"That's not the point what I call him," Kain pointed out. "He's only a whore when he pisses me off. Now back to the case, we need to have a talk about three years ago."

"First of all, you have twisted issues," Tala stated.

"Thank you, I pride myself on that," Kain grinned.

"Secondly, what's there to talk about?"

"A lot," Kain said.

Taking the time to pull Kenny away while Kai sat amused watching Tala and Kain, Rei gave his friend a worried look once they were out of earshot of others. "I suppose that you're just finding out they're alive today, huh?" Kenny looked up, seeing those gold eyes flickering in that all too familiar routine.

"Yeah, it was after I got home. It's a surprise when I found out. I…I still can't believe that after all this time, after all the tears I've shed…they came back. Like they promised, they came. But…" Kenny trailed off.

"You don't have any clue how you're going to tell him about moving on?" Rei suggested.

"Exactly, he looked so happy to see me," Kenny sighed.

"And you haven't gotten in touch with Tyson yet have you?" Rei questioned. "I'm sure you didn't tell either about you and Tyson. And Tyson's going to be just as shocked to know that the one he loved is still alive."

"Rei…what am I going to do?" Kenny asked.

"You're going to have to tell Tala the truth. That you moved on, and decide if you really want to be with him or Michael," Rei answered. "Who do you love more, who do you want to be with?"

"I…" Kenny lowered his eyes from Rei, staring at the ground.

"Finding out is going to be the hard part," Rei stated quietly. Turning his eyes back to look at the table where Kain was interrogating the red head, or whatever sort of interrogating that caused Kain to turn bright red, while Kai sat back laughing. "I know you don't want to do it, but you have to."

"I know…" Kenny said.

_**-oooooo-**_

Nao: Great chapter, I know I'm good. Though I do have to say that everything I wrote is just a small rewrite of what Laura did. And my sister did give me the outline, so I guess you reviewers can give them some praise, while the rest goes to me. Hell, I might as well take over all her projects at this rate. (laughs while Rim holds up a sign that says her sister is a maniac)


	10. Chapter 10

Rim: I honestly don't know what I want to do for this chapter, so I guess we will be playing it by ear for a little while to see what goes on and happens. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter like the previous one.

_**-oooooo-**_

Tyson opened his eyes, yawning slightly as he nuzzled up closer to the warmth of his boyfriend's chest, listening to the soft rhythmic thumps of Ozuma's heart. Tyson let the silence remain in the room, at least for a few more seconds, knowing that the other was awake when he shifted ever so slightly. A short smile crossed his lips, finding Ozuma wrap an arm around his waist, pulling him closer. Lifting his head up, he found the green eyed male looking down at him with a wide grin, which Tyson returned immediately. "What time is it?" Ozuma mumbled, kissing at Tyson's neck.

"I can't find out with you doing that, you know," Tyson laughed, lightly pushing away his boyfriend to turn over and stare at the digital clock resting on the table beside the bed.

"Well, who says that I really wanted to know the time, it was rhetorical," Ozuma stated.

"That was not a rhetorical question," Tyson argued. "You were clearly questioning me on what time it was, you just felt like you didn't need to know because you know I would turn over and check if I hadn't done so already."

"Smart ass," Ozuma teased, going back to nipping at Tyson's neck. Moving his hand across Tyson's stomach, he felt his boyfriend squirm lightly. "Keep squirming like that, it's turning me on."

"Ozuma, stop that," Tyson said. "Aren't you sated yet for today?"

"No, I'm not," Ozuma replied, moving his hand lower, so that his fingertips brushed against the insides of Tyson's warm thighs. He felt a light shiver ride up the blue haired male's back, hearing his boyfriend whimper ever so slightly. Ozuma pressed himself against Tyson's back, tilting Tyson's head towards him for a kiss.

"Ozuma," Tyson protested. "I do want to get out of this bed some time tonight you know. Can't you cool your hormones once in a while?"

"Around you, my hormones can never cool down. You just don't get how sexy you are and how hard it is for me to resist you. Besides, there's no need to get out of bed," Ozuma grinned, kissing Tyson lightly on the lips. His mouth traveled away from Tyson's mouth, kissing his way down to the unprotected neck begging him to mark it.

"There are plenty of reasons to get out of bed, one being to use the bathroom, the second is to get something to eat, third is to take a shower," Tyson said, moving Ozuma's hand from between his thighs where it had been moving upwards towards its designated target. Moving away from his boyfriend slightly, Tyson sat up, reading the numbers on the digital clock. Currently the numbers read 8:47, he wondered if anyone had called him since his departure from the others earlier.

Just recently his father had returned on a trip to Japan to see Tyson's brother, bring the young man back a ton of pictures of all the new projects his brother had finished up with or was beginning on. In another week and a half, his father was going to travel to Peru for an expedition that was already being set up, funded by a museum that would feature all the findings his father and his team discovered while they were excavating some underground caves in Peru. If there was one thing about Tyson's family, nobody ever sat still for too long doing nothing. Occasionally Tyson found himself proving that statement to be true.

Reaching over to grab his cell phone, Tyson flipped the phone open, taking his phone off do not disturb. Immediately the missed call message appeared on the color screen, followed by the voice message announcement. Pressing the button to see who called him, he immediately recognized both Kenny and Rei's number. Going to voice messages, Tyson's phone without delay dialed the voice mail number. Placing the phone to his ear, Tyson listened to Rei's short message which only told him that his cousin had something to tell him. Deleting that message, Tyson wondered what Kenny had to tell him that seemed so important by the tone in the Chinese male's voice.

"What's up?" Ozuma said, sitting up in bed to stare at Tyson who had a short frown between his brows.

"Dunno, Rei left me a message saying Kenny had something to tell me, I guess Kenny left me a message about what it was," Tyson responded.

'_Hey Ty, the first minute you get this message, call me back ASAP, something very important just came up and I need to speak with you about it. I'll be at the store tonight until closing if you want to stop by. Later.'_

Deleting the message, Tyson continued to frown where he sat. Muddling over ideas as to what his cousin needed to speak to him about, none of them came to head as being an ASAP call. If someone in there family had been hurt, Kenny wouldn't have left such a short message; the brunette would have called everyone that could possibly get in contact with Tyson. Checking the time that the call was made, Tyson saw that it was before Kenny went to work. It couldn't be that important if his cousin still went to work. Something told Tyson that he shouldn't wait too long to call.

"Find out what your cousin wanted?" Ozuma said.

"No, he just told me to call him when I got the message. I guess that whatever it is he has to tell me is important. I suppose I should go ahead and call him," Tyson said, beginning to dial the number to Starbucks.

"I'm going to the bathroom then." Ozuma leaned forward, kissing Tyson on the cheek before slipping out of bed and walking out the room, still completely naked to the bathroom. Tyson was so glad that Ozuma didn't have a roommate currently. He would definitely feel sorry for the guy with all the awkward moments of having Ozuma walking around the dorm room stark naked like he tended to do. Tyson even found that his boyfriend would answer the door naked if he was just getting up, as if the thought of wearing clothes to bed was the strangest idea ever.

When Tyson discovered that note, he questioned Ozuma about it, asking what if his parents came to visit him and he was strolling around his room naked. Ozuma had only given him a shrug saying they use to see him naked when he was a kid, there wasn't anything they hadn't seen before. Asking about Miriam was the worst thing Tyson could ever do, the response left the blue haired teen laughing on the floor when the green eyed male smirked and mentioned that he would be the only male with a morning erection ever to greet her.

Placing the phone to his ear, Tyson listened to the ringing before a young man picked up stating the name of the place Tyson just called, who he was, and how could he help. Tyson recognized the voice as one of the local high school boys that worked on the weekends to make a little extra money. "Hey, Patrick, it's me Tyson. Is my cousin busy?"

"Yo Tyson, what's up?" the boy named Patrick said.

"Oh, what happened to that professional tone?" Tyson teased.

"Well, it's only you, why do I need to be professional with you?" Patrick laughed. "You called for Kenny, right? I don't think he's busy. I saw him like a minute ago helping Jerry carry in another batch of ice then head back out to the tables to sit down. I'll call him over for you."

"Thanks a lot, Patrick," Tyson said. He heard the teen put down the phone momentarily and yelling for Kenny to come over to the phone. Tyson shook his head, knowing that their boss would have had a coronary on the spot if he was there that weekend. The weekend assistant manager, Allan more than likely wasn't around. Not that Allan would have cared if he was around anyway, because he was just as laid back and easy going as anyone Tyson had ever known.

On the other end of the phone, Kenny was getting up from talking with Tala and Kai to walk over to the phone. As expected, the traffic of people died down after six, leaving just a few customers to lazily hang around reading and talking. Weaving through the tables, Kenny made his way to the counter, heading behind it and shaking his head as the violet haired teen handed him the cordless phone.

"You are so lucky that Wesley doesn't work on the same days as we do or you would have never heard the end of that," Kenny said to Patrick.

Wesley DeGraw was one of the managers of the store who everyone hated to work with because he always found something to get on everyone about. Kenny had only been so lucky to work with the twenty-eight year old, not to mention strict, hard ass, self-important manager but once. Wesley had came from another store about two months previously and made the usually easy working atmosphere almost unbearable by giving everyone a talk to about who he did not like goofing off, or his employees to stand around doing nothing.

After that night, Kenny and Josh went immediately to their other manager, Cheryl Seger (no relationship whatsoever to Bob Seger), telling her what an asshole Wesley had been towards them, seeing as how they've worked longer than just about any other staff at the store. She listened to them fairly and once they were done, she agreed completely that Wesley was an asshole, but she couldn't have him transferred out, so the only thing she could do for them is never put them on the schedule on days that Wesley worked. The two praised her and since that time, neither he nor Josh was again plagued with the bastard.

"Don't talk that asshole up," Patrick groaned. "You know he came in the store one day while you were taking break and swore up and down I was trying to hit on this middle school girl."

"Well, were you?" Kenny inquired with a brow quirked up.

"You know my girlfriend would kill me," Patrick said.

"So what happened to make Wesley think you were trying to get clawed to death by your girlfriend?" Kenny smiled.

"She had accidentally spilled some mocha on her blouse and I was giving her a tip how to get it out. Wesley just caught the end with me saying that it was too nice a blouse to ruin," Patrick said. "He pulled me to the side and was all like 'we are running a business here, not a club for you to pick up anyone you see fit' and shit like that."

"Good thing I wasn't here, he already doesn't like me because he thinks my hair is too long for a guy and hinted when we worked together that one time that I should cut it because I would give people the wrong impression about myself," Kenny remarked. "Oh yeah by the way who's on the phone for me?"

"Just Tyson," Patrick responded.

"All right thanks." Walking to a corner, to sit on a stool, Kenny placed the phone to his ear. "Ty finally got my message. What if I had been pinned under a car and you were my only line of help? I would have died about time you would have gotten back to me."

"Hey now, it's not my fault, Ozuma—" Tyson started.

"Enough said. Tell your boyfriend he can't be snatching you away from me like that, doesn't he know that if I don't keep in regular contact with you, I start to go insane," Kenny smiled.

"Weren't you already crazy before hanging out with me? I mean you've dealt with Kain for years now," Tyson countered.

"You're probably right," Kenny agreed.

"So, what did you need that was so important that you had to speak with me ASAP for?" Tyson questioned, bringing Kenny's mind back to the real topic at hand. How was he going to tell his cousin about Kai and Tala's reappearance without triggering a torment of emotions? Maybe it would be best if he do it face to face, then again, that might be even worst for his cousin, triggering a much more massive eruption than if he were to tell Tyson right now on the phone. This was definitely a fix he was in. "Chief you still there, you haven't died on me have you?"

"No Tyson, I haven't," Kenny said with a small smile. "I was just thinking about how I was going to tell you about what I called you earlier for."

"Something that important that I need to be sitting down for interesting, so what is it? Wait, no let me guess, you and Michael did a little something before you went to work?" Tyson said. "That's it, isn't it?"

"No!" Kenny said. "Don't be so pervert to think I would just call you for that little piece of news."

"Little news, wow, you really don't love him as much as I thought you did, do you?" Tyson said. "I called you the moment I was finished…well maybe not the minute after we finished, I would have been too tired to tell you then."

"Of course I love him," Kenny said before thinking about it. "I…just don't think that I would call you with something like that, I would tell you when I saw you again. This is more important than me getting laid again."

"All right, I know you love him, I can see it in your eyes, even when you're unaware of it," Tyson laughed. "So, tell me why you needed to speak to me ASAP."

"Tyson, I think this will probably need you to be here to understand why telling you on the phone would not the best idea. It will make more sense anyway. I think it would also be best if you don't bring Ozuma with you until I tell you what I need to tell you. I'll meet you over at the bookstore to discuss things, all right," Kenny said, not wanting to keep this a secret from his cousin until he got there, but Kenny felt it would be best if they talked it over without other people listening in.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that this is bigger than what you're making it out to be right now," Tyson said, his voice changing ever so slightly. "What's up Kenny, it's something big or not? Otherwise you would just go ahead and tell me."

"I'm trying to tell you that it will be best if you just come on over here," Kenny said. "I will explain when you get here. So get your ass over this way, or I won't tell you at all."

"Fine, let me just take a quick shower and I'll get a ride from Ozuma and be down there in no more than 20 minutes. Where are you going to be when I get there?" Tyson inquired.

"I should be over in the fantasy section. I heard that Mercedes Lackey has a new trilogy out," Kenny said.

"What is with you and Mercedes Lackey? Every time I turn around, you're talking about a new trilogy she's doing, that you have to read. This makes what, the hundredth trilogy to date?" Tyson said.

"Have you read her books?" Kenny said.

"No, but I have a feeling that if I pick up another book you recommend I might have another obsession on hand. It's bad enough that I still can't get over the Lord of the Rings world yet. Now you're trying to throw me into another realm of fantasy," Tyson stated.

"Hey, I think you would like her stories as much as you like the Lord of the Rings series. They're very intriguing and page turning," Kenny smiled.

"Great, now I'm going to be hooked on another fantasy author. What next? Anne Rice? Let me not start. I'm going to take a shower and get dress so I can come down there and find out what you want," Tyson said. Kenny could just imagine his cousin shaking his head.

"Hey…Tyson…before you go, I want to ask you something," Kenny said, thinking about what his cousin said earlier about how much he could see that Kenny loved Michael. "Can you…can you really see how much I like Michael when you look at me?"

"Of course," Tyson said. "You don't see it because you think that everything is just ordinary between you two. I find that whenever I look at you, and you speak about him, or around him, your eyes have a certain shine in them. I haven't seen that in a long time, so I should know that you have feelings for Michael, even if it's not love right now, you feeling something deep for him. It's like with me and Ozuma. You shouldn't question it because of old love. You have to move on."

"I…" Kenny really didn't have anything to say towards that, because of the current situation and because he wanted his cousin to be present when the information hit him. "Thanks Ty, I'll see you in twenty minutes."

"Later." Hanging up, Tyson sat there for a long minute, pondering over everything his cousin said. There was definitely something big the brunette was keeping from him. Placing the cell phone back on the nightstand, Tyson was about to get up when Ozuma came walking back in the room.

"You talk to your cousin?" Ozuma inquired throwing himself on the bed, pulling Tyson's down with him.

"Yes, and he told me to bring my ass down to the store or he won't tell me what he wants. Mind dropping me off once I've had a quick shower? Without you in there with me," Tyson added in when Ozuma gave him a wide grin associated with shower sex. The blue haired teen laughed at the sight of the grin defaulting into a pout of disappointment with his last statement. "I don't have time tonight for a shower quickie, I promise you tomorrow morning, now stop pouting you big baby."

"What if I don't want to stop?" Ozuma voiced.

"Then no more sex for you tonight," Tyson said simply, watching his boyfriend's eyes widen with fear. "So, do we have a deal?"

"Fine," Ozuma gave in. "No shower sex, I'll let you wash in peace, but just remember, you promised me some in the morning. So don't try to talk your way out of it, understand me."

"I know I know," Tyson sighed. "I swear you're nothing but a big baby."

"I know that's why you love me."

"Really?" Tyson laughed, leaning close to kiss Ozuma. "I never knew that was the case. I thought it was because of the incredible sex."

"That too," Ozuma murmured, kissing Tyson.

_**-oooo-**_

Kenny looked up from the selection of books he was browsing over to find his cousin staring at him with a curious look. "Oh, you're finally here," was the only thing Kenny said before staring at another book title.

"Sorry," Tyson flushed. "I know I said twenty minutes, but I got a little tangled up. And I'm only late by ten minutes." Tyson put his hands in the pockets of his crimson parka, staring at the brunette that looked back at him with a short shake of his head. Kenny knew that Ozuma was a factor in time, so he really wasn't mad, over the course that the two began going out, Kenny had grown accustom to Tyson's periods of lateness with quick ease. For any set time Tyson gave him, Kenny always remembered to add ten to fifteen more minutes to it if he was with Ozuma. He supposed it was due to Kain and Rei's off increments of time in meeting him.

"That's all right, I had a feeling you were going to be a bit late, so I came over here about ten minutes ago," Kenny said. "I've learned that when you guys, meaning you, Rei, and Kain, say you'll be anywhere in a certain amount of time, give you extra time."

"Looks like you have us figured out then," Tyson laughed. "So, what's up? You have something important to talk about?"

"Let's go outside, it's practically dead in the store, so I doubt they're going to need me any time soon. When I finish saying everything that needs to be said, I think you'll appreciate that I didn't do it in here. Come on," Kenny said, walking towards the front aisles followed by Tyson. The brunette had specifically told the two in Starbucks to stay put because he doubted his cousin would be able to take an ambush of seeing the two again, and he knew if he told Kai he came over here to talk with Tyson the dual haired male would have followed him. Thus giving his cousin a heart attack from the sudden appearance back from the dead…or a nervous breakdown, which ever did come first.

Tyson frowned when his cousin said to go outside in the cold, but didn't say anything towards it, following the brunette. He wondered why Kenny didn't want to head back over to Starbucks to speak, maybe too many listening ears. Silently heading out the door with his cousin, he stood to the side of the door. Tyson ignored the chill factor of 20 degrees as he faced his cousin. Each breath they took came out as short plumes of steam.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" Tyson questioned, breaking the silence before Kenny could say anything. "There's a reason you told me to come here and not bring Ozuma along with me, why we're talking outside, and you were so urgent about speaking to me as soon as I was available, so what's up?"

"Well…there's no easy way to say this, Tyson," Kenny sighed, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. He knew he should have brought his coat with him. Even if his wool sweater was insulated, it did nothing to stop the sudden stab of cold going through it as the wind blew. Thinking on it, it probably wasn't the best thing to have his cousin out in this temperature so soon after showering. The last thing he wanted was Tyson coming down with the flu or pneumonia.

"Well, if it isn't easy to say, just say it the best way you can. The quicker you say it, we can go inside and not freeze our asses out here beating around the bush," Tyson stated. "If you haven't notice, it's not seventy degrees out here."

"I know, I know smart ass," Kenny rolled his eyes. "But this isn't an easy subject to talk about, okay. In fact, I don't know how you're going to respond when you find out."

"Would you go ahead and tell me Kenny?" Tyson said. "You keep saying it's not an easy subject to talk about and you don't know how I'm going to respond, well you haven't given me a chance to find out. You're making me nervous."

Kenny knew that he was stalling, but he just didn't know how to break the news to his cousin. With a short sigh, more steam rising into the air, Kenny turned his eyes upwards to the evening night. Well, the only thing that was going to settle this was telling his cousin. "Well…when I left you guys today, everything was fine. Michael took me home and then my mom told me that she had this surprise waiting for me upstairs. When I got upstairs…I found…Tyson…they aren't dead."

"What are you talking about?" Tyson said, knowing where this conversation was heading, but hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was by what his cousin was saying.

"You know what I'm talking about Tyson. The same thing that we've been telling ourselves for three years now, only this time it's true," Kenny said softly. "That's the reason why I didn't want you to bring Ozuma with you, also the reason we're out here instead of inside. I didn't want you to be overwhelmed by it."

"Overwhelmed?" Tyson repeated, lowering his head. "That's funny. Just like this joke, we both know their bodies were found in ditches back in Tennessee, stop messing with my head. Tell me the real reason you called me all the way down here."

"Do you think I would do something as cruel as that Tyson?" Kenny said, looking over to his cousin to find tears trickling down Tyson's face.

"It can't be true, it can't…it's impossible for him to be alive," Tyson whispered, his body shaking. The tears on his cheeks were slowly freezing fresh, hot tears the only thing keeping his face from freezing up completely.

"They're in the store right now, sitting and waiting for me to come back. Come on Tyson, let's go inside, Kai will be happy to see you," Kenny said, looking at a few people coming out of Starbucks pulling on toboggans and gloves while heading to the parking lot. The weatherman had predicted another light sprinkling of snow later that night, leading to heavier snowing in the early mornings, it was practically cold enough that Kenny had no doubt the forecast was going to be true.

"Of all the times fate wants to kick in…" Tyson chuckled.

"Tyson." Kenny turned his head just in time to see his cousin's body crumpled into a heap on the ground. "Tyson!"

_**-oooo-**_

Tyson's eyes fluttered open to the sound of his cousin's voice speaking with someone. Staring up at the sickly green ceiling, Tyson wondered if everything he had heard from his cousin was a dream. Trying to sit up, Tyson felt a sharp pain on the left side of his temple. Raising a hand, he found a soft patch which was wrapped around his head. Thinking about the last few events, he vaguely remembered hitting the ground before blacking out. Lowering his hand, Tyson let out a sigh, the action sent another prickle of ache into his skull. He would be lucky if he hadn't busted his head open on the cold concrete.

Listening to his cousin's voice, he could barely make out the words. Concentrating too hard triggered another incessant clawing at his brain, which Tyson gave up the second he realized that he wasn't about to kill himself to be nosy. A minute later, Tyson heard the sound of a door opening and closing, turning his head towards the sound, he found Kenny walking towards him with a relieved look in his eyes.

"You're awake that's a good thing, the doctor expected you to be out a little longer than that. Tyson next time don't do me the favor of trying to give me a heart attack before I'm twenty-one?" Kenny stated.

"Doctor…? Am I in a hospital?" Tyson mumbled.

"Yes, you don't think after you collapse in front of the store I'm going to drag you inside and get you a latte do you? I had get Patrick to call an ambulance for me, while Kai and Tala helped me keep you from freezing because we didn't want to move you. I was afraid you had cracked that thick head of yours open," Kenny responded.

At the mention of Kai's name, Tyson's eyes watered, tears streaking down his face. "Is it really true…is it Kenny?"

"Do you want to see him? Kai's been worried since we brought you here to the hospital thirty minutes ago. He's been pacing the floor continuously," Kenny said. "He's out in the halls right now worrying about you. Do you think that you can handle things?"

"I want to see him," Tyson sniffed. "I want to see him with my own eyes and to make sure that it's really him, that this isn't a dream."

"I understand," Kenny said, walking over to the door, opening it. Looking out, he found Kai's eyes on him immediately. Beckoning the other with a nod of his head, Kenny watched Kai take brisk steps to the door. Kenny stepped aside, allowing Kai's entrance in the room. "He's awake he wants to speak with you."

"Thanks Kenny," Kai said softly. Kenny slipped out of the room, leaving the two alone. Kai for a long minute stood by the door, thinking about what he wanted to say to his love, while Tyson stared at the ceiling waiting. He couldn't turn his head towards the door, he was afraid that it would just be a clear apparition there, sadly looking at him before vanishing into thin air. Tyson didn't want to believe that he was wrong for all these years, yet a part of him wanted this to be true, wanted to have some closure after all these years.

"Please God…please," Tyson whispered softly, the words carrying over to Kai who walked to the bed, sitting down on the edge. Tyson's eyes slowly turned on Kai, tearing up to find that the person sitting beside him was solid, that it was no apparition which came to visit him. Tyson's eyes slowly go over the features he had never forgotten in all the years since he left Tennessee.

"Tyson," Kai said, taking hold of the blue haired teen's hand, cradling it within his grasp. "You had me worried."

"Kai…" Tyson sobbed.

"It's okay, I'm right here beside you," Kai said, leaning down to kiss the top of Tyson's head. "I'm not going to leave you ever again. I'm sorry it took so long, I'm sorry for causing you so much pain, but I'm here now. I'm not going to leave your side ever again. I promise you."

"Why…?" Tyson cried. "Why didn't you tell me you were alive? All these years…they said your bodies were found in ditches. They said you had died and…"

"I know, things are complicated," Kai said. "I can't explain them to you right now, but I promise when I am able, I will tell you the whole story. Everything is going to be fine now. I'm here," Kai smiled, wiping away the tears trickling down Tyson's cheeks.

"It can't be okay," Tyson whimpered.

"Don't be mad with me, I promise I will tell you," Kai assured.

"It's not that, you don't understand it," Tyson said, shaking his head. Making an attempt to sit up, he ignored the pain which roared in the back of his skull. He didn't want to do this, but it would be better than leading Kai along until he found out the truth. Tyson didn't want to hurt Kai, he didn't want to hurt himself, but there was no other way that things could be like they use to be right now.

"Tyson, you shouldn't strain so much, lay back down, the doctor said you might have a concussion," Kai ordered.

"No," Tyson slowly shook his head. Looking down at his hands, Tyson let out a short sigh, before he raised his eyes to Kai, his dark blue eyes misting. "Things can't be like before. I wish they could, I wish nothing would change, but I had no control of the things that transpired in the past few months. I've moved on Kai."

"You've…" The words stuck to the back of Kai's throat as he stared at Tyson who lowered his eyes back to his hands playing with a corner of the hospital sheet.

"I've moved on," Tyson repeated. "I'm sorry Kai."

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: Don't kill me please! I know it's a horrible place to break things off at, but I like the quality that the next chapter is going to be more emotionally charge because of everything coming out in the open and some very nice revelations. I suppose that doesn't satisfy you, does it Silverm…

Brooklyn: Well, just think, she has reason enough to now to grab you and shake the hell out of you. You better start writing that chapter soon Rim. Until next chapter everyone.


	11. Chapter 11

Rim: Okay, maybe it's just me, but seriously can someone tell me when this story got to eleven chapters? I didn't realize it until I began looking at my chapters. Well, I say we get on with the chapter. I would like to thank everyone for reviewing and being patient with me and my writer's block. It's hell, but I can try and work around it, I got enough idea to make the outline for this chapter after all, so enjoy.

_**-oooooo-**_

Silence fell upon the hospital room, the sickly green painted walls seemed to close the two on the bed into a box neither could escape if they wanted to. Kai sat on the edge of the bed, holding onto Tyson's hand. Tyson slipped his hand out of Kai's, playing with the end of the hospital sheet, which was same pasty colored green that the walls were painted with.

"I'm sorry…but…" Tyson began, breaking the silence between them before trailing off. Raising his eyes, he saw the blank look within Kai's eyes before realization hit him.

"You're with someone else," Kai said more to himself than to Tyson.

"I didn't mean to, I really didn't Kai," Tyson said, the tears shimmering in his eyes. "If I had known you were alive…if I had known you would have come back to me…I wouldn't have fallen in love with anyone else, I would have waited for you regardless of who was interested in me."

"You're in love with this person?" Kai clenched one his hands at his side, turning his eyes away from Tyson momentarily staring at the sickly walls.

"His name is Ozuma Watari…we go to the same college, he's my age. We had the same psychology class last semester…he's really nice and he's fun to be around. I…I really like…" Tyson stammered, the tears continuing to trickle down his face.

"Stop it…" Kai said.

"But Kai I—"

"No, I don't want to hear anything about another man from your mouth," Kai said harshly, causing Tyson to flinch from the tone. Turning his auburn eyes on the blue eyed teen in the bed, Kai raised his hand to touch Tyson's face, wiping away the tears. Searching his love's eyes, Kai didn't need to say another word or hear another word about another person that Tyson's heart belonged to. "Don't say another word Tyson, I can't stand to sit here and listen to it."

Lowering his hand from Tyson's face, Kai got up from the bed with a sigh. He should have known that so much time could not be passed without his love's heart opening to another person. He should have listened to his cousin when Tala stated that Tyson and Kenny had moved on. Or at least Tyson anyway, the dual haired young man had no idea if his cousin had followed the same footsteps and found himself to close the hole in their hearts left open from three years ago. If there had been a way for them (Kai and Tala) to contact the two just to let them know they would be back and they would fulfill their promise of being together, they wouldn't have hesitated in doing so. But because of the implications of their situation, both had no choice but to disappear for three years.

"I should let you get some rest, it was nice seeing you again Tyson," Kai said, refusing now to look at the blue haired boy that had forever changed his life.

"Please Kai…don't just walk away like this," Tyson begged, seeing that familiar look of distance enter the older male's eyes. "Don't shut me out even if we can't be together now, I want you to be there for me." It was true, regardless of the fact that Tyson was in love with Ozuma, a part of him still loved Kai and didn't want the other to go out of his reach again, if only they become friends for the moment. Kai was important to him, he would always be important to Tyson, and there was nothing that could change that.

"I can't just sit back and smile being near you," Kai replied. "I can't be happy with you being with any other man either. I'm sorry Tyson, but it's not going to work out however you're planning it in your head." Before his love could say another word, Kai walked towards the door, grabbing the handle and pulling it open. Taking one more look at Tyson, Kai left the room closing the door between him and Tyson.

The blue eyed teen in the hospital bed whimpered, lowering his head into his hands and cried. He hadn't wanted to hurt Kai, not after everything, but it was inevitable it seems for the outcome to be anything less than what it was. He couldn't have just taken Kai back so easily, while in love with Ozuma. It wouldn't have been fair to either male in that situation, and eventually the truth would have had to come out, hurting someone more than now. Yet, no matter just how much Tyson explained and went over the facts in his head, his heart was telling his something completely different. A distinct pain clutching his heart, squeezing until it was too unbearable to let go.

Outside the room, Kai listened to the soft sobbing emitting from Tyson. Closing his eyes as he leaned against the door, he fought every urge to rush back into the room and cradle the other. It wasn't his place or right anymore to do any such thing. Well, that wasn't the only reason he refused to go back in the room. His self control would easily break, causing him to react towards Tyson in a manner that was so familiar to him, only to hear another man's name roll off his love's tongue.

"Kai?" Kenny's voice broke him out of his train of thought. Opening his eyes, he saw the brunette looking up at him with eyes of concern. For a second, they shifted to the door he was leaning against then went back to him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I thought that it was better if Tyson told you everything."

"It's not your fault," Kai smiled lightly a hint of bitterness behind the smile, or at least it seemed there was while Kai pulled out his pack of cigarettes. If Kai was anything like his cousin, then his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, and the smile on his face was only a cover for what he saw underlined. "I don't blame you for this you had no control over his heart. You both thought we were dead after all. It's understandable."

"Kai…the words I tell you may not have any effect on you or change your mind about what you might do, but I just want you to know that Tyson never stopped loving you one day since that summer three years ago. I doubt he will ever stop loving you no matter how much time passes. It's not an easy thing to deal with, we know, but…" Kenny sighed, lowering his eyes from Kai. "Don't turn your back completely to him."

"I need a smoke." Instead of answering the brunette, Kai changed the subject all together, he didn't want to take the time to think about it when there was just a door separating him and Tyson. He needed to get away, if just for a little while and think things out."

"Kai," Kenny started. "Will you at least think about it, if not now then later?"

"Where's Tala?" Kai continued to avoid answering the brunette, who sighed. "I need to borrow his lighter."

"You aren't going to answer me, I see. Fine, I guess that you will do things your way," Kenny sighed, looking over to where Tala was coming back down the hall from using the bathroom. Kai walked pass the brunette, eyeing his cousin who quirked a brow slightly to see the somber light reflecting in Kai's auburn depths.

"Loan me your lighter, I'm going to smoke," Kai said.

"I don't have my lighter on me, I left it at home," Tala said, watching Kai frown, then bypass him before heading down the stairs. "Besides, what's up with—?"

"Drop it, I don't want to talk about it, I'm going for a walk, I'll be home later," Kai continued his descent down the stairs, way from his cousin who by now could figure out what the issue was just by hearing the sobbing Tyson conducted behind the closed hospital door. He didn't know what he was going to do right now, but he had to clear his head first thing, everything else would come later.

Tala looked at Kenny who was staring at the door where Tyson's quiet sobs were coming from. Tala briefly transferred his gaze to the egg white painted door. So, it was true that Tyson was involved in a relationship after so much time passing. The red head could feel a frown dropping the corners of his mouth, but not enough for Kenny to notice it when he turned his attention back on the red head.

"I should probably talk to Tyson you can wait around if you want, but I don't know how long it's going to take me to calm him down. If you want to go after Kai, then I can understand," Kenny said.

"Take your time," Tala stated. "I know how important he is to you, so I can understand. Besides, I don't want you walking home by yourself. I'm sure that the streets aren't that safe. "

"It's not like I'm going to be kidnapped right off the streets. Or while walking home picked up by some guy who mistakes me for a prostitute," Kenny said with a short smile. "Anyway, my friend Kain has a car, so you can go ahead and leave and I can call him when I'm finished to take me home."

"No, go ahead and talk to Tyson and calm him down, I'll wait around for you and take you home when you're done," Tala countered. For one, he wanted to talk with Kenny alone about any changes in his life since three years ago, second he wanted to be alone with the brunette, and third…it was silly, but he was afraid if he left his love, then he would never find out the truth until it was too late.

"Thank you so much Tala," Kenny smiled, turning away from the male. Tala crossed his arms over his chest, thinking about if Kenny had something to tell him or not. Tala was still tittering on the edge of reason thinking that the male that called the brunette earlier was involved with his love, despite Kenny's assurance that his friend was just that and nothing more.

Kenny pulled the door open to the room and entered quietly, watching his cousin rock back and forth while crying into his hands. Tears seeped through his fingers, dropping into his lap and soaking into the material of the stiff hospital sheet. Walking up to the bed, Kenny sat down on the edge, pulling Tyson into his arms. "Tyson…"

"He hates me," Tyson sobbed.

"He doesn't hate you," Kenny murmured, stroking his cousin's hair while staring up at the ceiling. "You know he doesn't hate you, he would never hate you for something like this. He's just…he just doesn't know what to think or do right now."

"But it seems like he hates me so much now," Tyson sniffed, his tears slowing. "He just looked at me with that distant look. I don't want him to be indifferent towards me."

"He doesn't want to either," Kenny sighed. "No one said that this wasn't going to be easy to do, but he had to know, right?" Tyson didn't say a word he only nodded his head before resting it on Kenny's shoulder trying to catch his breath. The two sat in silence for a long time while Tyson regained himself from his crying spell. Wiping the rest of the tears from his eyes, Tyson sat up from where he had his head on his cousin's shoulder.

"Why do you think they took so long to come back?" Tyson inquired softly.

"I don't know," Kenny said after a few seconds. "I suppose that we will have to wait until they decide to tell us their reasons. I doubt that it's going to be any easier than what we're doing now."

"Why do you say that?" Tyson inquired, looking his cousin in the eyes.

"Well…before, when I asked them, the look in their eyes told me that something wasn't right. It was as if those three years they spent away, something happened that they aren't willing to tell right now. But I don't doubt that when the times comes, they will share their sides of the story with us," Kenny said, remembering the haunted look within a pair of auburn and azure eyes.

"What do you think it is?" Tyson wondered.

"I don't know, hopefully it wasn't as bad as what we found out about their uncle," Kenny prayed. Tyson only agreed with a short nod, the silence settling back between them as each gathered together his thoughts.

"Have you told him yet?" Tyson inquired softly, lowering his eyes to the dark spot on the bed where the tears had fallen.

"No, I haven't yet," Kenny sighed. "I've been thinking of every way I could tell him without…well, you know how Tala can be. When I tell him, I want there to be a chance that he won't just cave in and there will be no way for me to get him to open back up to me. So, I'm trying to think of how to say it and get a positive response from him."

"There's not going to be an easy way to tell him, he's the most impossible person on the face of this planet, so no matter how you tell him, he's still going to have a negative reaction towards it," Tyson remarked, laying back down on the bed. His headache beginning to give him real trouble with the jack hammering pain coursing from his left lobe to run circles from one hemisphere to the other.

"You okay, Ty?" Kenny inquired, noticing the frown between his cousin's brows as Tyson closed his eyes.

"No…my head hurts like hell and crying didn't make it any better," Tyson moaned. "I need to go to sleep…or have my head sawed off, my brain removed, then my head sewn back on."

"Don't you think calling the nurse and getting some ibuprofen would be a lot simpler than the whole gory scene?" Kenny laughed softly. "I don't think some people would be happy to know that you don't have a head."

"I don't care," Tyson whimpered. "I just want it to stop hurting so I don't have to knock myself unconscious."

"Then you really would have to be tranquilized because you would definitely feel like hell. Try to get some sleep or call the nurse. And I will go home, it's already close to eleven anyway," Kenny said, starting to stand up from where he was seated on the hospital bed. At the mention of the time, Tyson rolled over, looking at the hospital table where his phone, wallet, and other items were placed. His clothes were hanging on the back of the hospital door—being that when he was admitted to the hospital, the nurses stripped him, placing him into one of those hospital gowns, the same egg white as the door unfortunately was painted.

"My cell phone hasn't rung since I've been out have I?" Tyson questioned.

"No, I turned your phone off when I was making sure you didn't break it when you fell. Don't worry, if you want, I'll call Ozuma for you and tell him what happened, and not to go into cardiac arrest," Kenny smiled. "You just get some rest, all right?"

"I'll try to," sighed Tyson his eyes darkening once more. "Between my headache and heartache, I don't know which will keep me up more. Maybe I should call the nurse to bring me something to sedate myself. If you talk to my dad, just tell him I'm staying over a friend's house and will be back in the afternoon, I doubt the doctor's going to let me leave in the morning."

"Probably not, now get some rest or you will never get rid of that headache, and then Ozuma's going to rush over the minute visiting hours are up to see how his baby is doing," Kenny laughed, getting up from the bed. Tyson made a face at his cousin, turning his back to Kenny.

"Shut up…I don't feel like retorting…head hurts too much," Tyson mumbled.

"All right, I'll leave you alone. Night Tyson, I'll be by tomorrow to check up on you and tell you the details of things. I'll also stop by your house before I come and bring you a fresh pair of clothing." Kenny watched Tyson nod silently then walked out the room, closing the door lightly. Tala was leaning against a wall, watching the nurses walk by; some of them were eyeing him or whispering to another nurse about the "sexy young man in the hallways". Kenny chuckled inwardly, wondering if they would still drool over him if they knew he was gay.

For a second, Tala was unaware of his presence in the hall, his eyes watching the passing doctors and nurses heading up and down the hall. Eventually azure eyes studied Kenny quietly, their eyes meeting briefly. Kenny wondered if he really would be able to tell Tala the truth. He already saw what happened between Tyson and Kai…he would never be able to take Tala turning his back on him just like that. He was uncertain if he was as in love with Michael as Tyson was in love with Ozuma, but he did feel something for the other red head. After all, he and Tala were like two peas in the same pod, something just wouldn't let him go so easily.

"You ready to leave?" Tala inquired.

"Yeah, but are you sure that you don't want to go look for Kai, so he doesn't get lost?" Kenny said. "I really can get a ride from my friends."

"Don't worry about Kai he can take care of himself. Even if he gets lost, he'll just call me and tell me to come find his ass. Besides d you think that blue haired boy will really want to stop screwing your other friend to come and get you? An exceptionally good piece of ass too, I doubt it," Tala said, pushing away from the wall to walk up to Kenny.

"Don't tell me you were looking at my best friend that way, Tala Ivanov?" Kenny crossed his arms with a rose brow. "Kain would have you killed and skinned for a crime like that."

"I didn't say I was going to touch, I just so happened to notice things like that. How can I help noticing what's right in front of me?" Tala smirked, his anxiety easing off his shoulders by the light hearted tone of their conversation. He watched the brunette shake his head.

"It's still a crime," Kenny said, following behind Tala who was already walking down the hall. Conversation died down when with them reaching the elevator and taking it down to the first floor.

Even though it was going on eleven, there were still people roaming around the hospital, doctors talking to patients, people in the waiting area filling out forms for who knows what type of injuries. As they were leaving, a man was bringing in his drunken friend who for some reason had a large hole in the back of his pants…of course that's not really why both Tala and Kenny stared at the guy. No…it was definitely because of the light bulb inserted into his ass that caught their eyes; probably the eyes of everyone else that saw it too.

"How drunk do you have to be to get a light bulb stuck up your ass?" Kenny inquired to Tala once they were outside. Of course Tala could not answer the question seeing as he was trying to stop himself from laughing. "That's not funny."

"Obviously, you have never been drunk around a bunch of guys. It reminds me of a night Kai and I were drinking and he fell asleep first. He was pissed at me because he woke up to find a cucumber wearing a condom in his ass," Tala grinned wickedly. "Of course he got me back later with that bottle of Jack Daniels."

"I don't want to think about what gave you the idea to put a cucumber up your cousin's ass," Kenny said with a shudder. "Should you really be putting things in each other while you're drunk and the other's unconscious? That's just the making of disaster calling."

"You're drunk it always seems like a good idea. Besides, I told him not to fall asleep around me or who knows what's bound to happen," Tala laughed.

"Remind me never to drink around you then," Kenny advised.

"You don't have to worry, I would never take advantage of you while you're under the influence of alcohol," Tala winked. Tala would have said more, but Kenny's cell phone rang, cutting off the rest of the conversation and ruining Tala's mood, because he had a hunch it was that male from earlier calling Kenny back.

Kenny pulled out his phone, looking down to find Michael's number. Cutting the phone on, he placed it to his ear before speaking. Well, he really didn't speak because Michael started spouting out question after frantic question, causing Kenny to hold the phone away from his ear. Kenny waited until the questions died out to a simple 'are you going to answer me?' before placing the phone back to his ear. "Calmed down yet?"

"Are you going to answer me?" Michael said his voice filled with concern and panic. "I called the store and Patrick said you were out at the hospital."

"I'm fine," Kenny said. "Tyson's the one that's in the hospital. He had a little accident and tried to crack his head open on the sidewalk outside the store."

"You know, I keep telling you there's something wrong with him, now he's trying to lose the rest of his brain cells. The doctors plan to release him tonight or tomorrow?" Michael said, a sigh of relief entering his voice.

"I was talking to the doctors earlier they want to keep him overnight just in case. When I left his room, he was threatening to saw his own head off because of the headache," Kenny smiled. "He's in good spirits for the most part I doubt we have to worry about him."

"He has a thick head anyway it's not going to faze him too much. Ozuma's probably going to freak when he finds out, have you called him yet?" Michael inquired.

"No, because he's going to scream my ear off too, I don't need to be deaf yet. I'll do it when I get home," Kenny said, knowing that Ozuma was indeed going to panic, much like Michael had, though it was sweet the red head was so worried over him. "Hey, I'll call you when I get home and fill you in on everything."

"You're still at the hospital? Do you want me to come pick you up? I know you don't feel like heading out tonight, so I'll let you get by on a rain check this time."

"Thanks, but I have a ride. I'll talk to you when I get home," Kenny said. Saying good night to Michael, Kenny hung up his phone, placing it in his coat pocket once again. Looking over at Tala, the red head was looking up at the sky, the predicted snow starting to fall around them. Something in the male's eyes saddened him, as if Tala was slowly distancing himself from Kenny. "Hey…"

"Yeah?" Tala turned his eyes downwards, staring at the brunette who was looking at him with concerned eyes. Maybe it was just his friend Kain calling to make sure he was safe. He doubt the other male Kenny was speaking to earlier would ask him if he needed a ride while being in Washington, giving Tala hope that the one in Washington was just a friend after all. Of course, his mind would not relinquish the notion or possibility of their being a boyfriend. That evil little voice in the back of his head just wouldn't stop conspiring with his imagination.

"I'm ready," Kenny smiled. Kenny was disappointed when Tala only nodded in silence as the two headed towards the Kia that was parked in the fifth lane over. The sound of silence, followed by the occasional siren of an ambulance coming back from a call interrupted the space words should have flowed. Kenny really didn't know what to say to the red head as he got into the car and fastened his seat belt.

He could see reflection within Tala's eyes, something telling him that Tala had suspicions over the truth. It would definitely explain why Tala didn't say a word, getting into the car. What could he really say if Tala had an inkling of the fact that Kenny was involved with someone? It didn't make the situation any simpler with whatever was roaming around his head. If there was one thing Kenny should have remembered it was that Tala tended to have a larger perception of things around him than anyone realized. Probably due to the living circumstances he dealt with growing up.

As said before, Tala having some knowledge of what could have likely happened in his absence of three years did not make it easy for the situation to be brought up, if in fact he recognized that Tyson moving on also meant that the same applied to Kenny. The silence between them only grew; both contemplating their strategies the entire ride back to Kenny's house.

When Tala pulled up to the curb in front of Kenny's house and cut off the engine, he turned to stare at the brunette who was so deep in thought, he hadn't noticed they stopped moving. In the darkness of the car, the snowing falling heavier outside, it was their moment, separate from the rest of reality. Tala didn't want his love to get out the car and walk away forever, or at least it would feel like it. He wasn't going to give Kenny up, not this easily regardless of what truths there were.

Unfastening his seat belt, Tala leaned over, pressing his lips just under Kenny's chin. Opening his mouth slightly, he nipped at the skin, feeling Kenny jump with startle. Pulling back just a little, Tala studied those vibrant eyes that locked with his. "I know the truth Kenny you don't have to say it."

"Tala," Kenny breathed softly, his heart pounding a mile a minute at the other's closeness. Oh gods how he just wanted to hold onto Tala and never let him go. Kenny studied the flickering azure eyes in the darkness of the car, eyes that he had missed more than anything in the world. "Tala…you don't know the whole truth. I don't want—"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off when Tala pressed his lips against Kenny's hard, silencing the words. He didn't want to hear them he didn't even want to know they were there. All he wanted to do was make the brunette his again. Kenny felt a shudder rise up his spine, closing his eyes and gave in to the request of Tala's tongue to find entrance into his mouth. A low moan escaped Kenny's lips, reveling in the taste he had longed for so often in the past three years of his life. His hands found the buckle of the seat belt, freeing himself in order to pull Tala closer. He could feel the red head's hand inch under his sweater, touching the skin there.

Breaking the kiss, Tala pulled Kenny over into his lap, reclining his seat back all the way. A shudder rode up the brunette's spine, feeling the heat radiating off Tala. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but his body would not allow him to break away. Kenny moaned softly, feeling Tala grip his butt before pressing Kenny down against him for another kiss. "You have no idea how much I want you right now, Kenny," Tala said huskily.

"Tala…" Kenny said.

"Don't say a word," Tala said, pushing up the material of Kenny's sweater.

"Please…stop Tala," Kenny said, moving the other's hands from his sweater. "We can't do this…I'm sorry Tala. It's true…I am involved with someone, his name is Michael and I like him a lot, but that doesn't mean I…"

"I didn't need to hear it," Tala said, dropping his hands from Kenny's waist. "I didn't want to know."

"But you have to know," Kenny said, looking down into Tala's eyes. "We started going out about two months ago. I don't know if I like him as much as he likes me, but he's a nice person…and he's been a great friend to help me out."

"I don't want to hear this," Tala stated again, turning his eyes away.

"I'm sorry Tala," Kenny whispered, leaning down and kissing the red head lightly on the lips before moving himself off Tala and getting his things from the passenger side of the car. With a short look back, Kenny exited the car, heading towards his house as tears stung his eyes.

Just as he unlocked the door to his house, he heard the car behind him pull away from the curb. Leaning against the door for a long minute, Kenny tried to get his breath, his body shaking from thoughts of what could have happened if he hadn't stopped Tala. Running a hand through his hair, Kenny finally managed to calm down enough to push away from the door and trudge his way up the stairs. His parents were already asleep thankfully enough so they would not have to see his unsettled nerves. Making it up to his room, Kenny pushed the door open and went inside.

Falling back on his bed once he reached it, the brunette just laid there, trying to gather his nerves. Of course, the fact that his cell phone decided it wanted to ring was no help, but he couldn't just let it ring. It could be Michael or Rei, both would be worried to some different degree than the other over no answer. With a sigh, Kenny got out his cell phone and answered it, wiping away the tears in his eyes.

"Hello?" Kenny said.

"Hey Kenny, it's me Ozuma." Kenny was not too surprised receiving a call from his cousin's boyfriend. He figured the other probably tried to get in touch with Tyson only to find his cell phone was turned off.

"Hi Ozuma, I was about to call you in a few minutes too, you probably have impeccable timing right now," Kenny smiled, pushing aside his own feelings for the moment.

"Why?" Ozuma questioned. "What have you done with my boyfriend?"

"What do you mean what have I done with him? You're the one that steals him away from me," Kenny countered. "Besides, I haven't done anything to him. He did want me to call you and tell him not to worry about him though."

"Why, where is he?" Ozuma asked.

"Just the hospital," Kenny remarked, timing the second he needed to pull his ear away from the phone before a slew of frantic questions exploded from the other end of the phone. Eventually, when Ozuma was too winded to scream or panic anymore, Kenny placed the phone back to his ear. "Calm down Ozuma, he's not dead or broken anything, and he's not sick."

"Then tell me what the hell happened!" Ozuma exclaimed.

"If you would stop yelling at me I would tell you," Kenny said. "He just fell and hit his head outside the store. He's going to be fine he just has a massive headache right now. Nothing that ibuprofen and a little rest can't cure."

"How the hell did he fall outside the store?"

"Well…I think it would be better if you talked that over with Tyson. There's a lot more that I think he should tell you in the morning. It's going to be a little better if you hear it from him anyway. I need to call Michael, okay," Kenny said. He could hear the hesitation on the other end of the line until Ozuma gave up what he was going to say, which Kenny was eternally grateful for. The story would be entirely too long to go over and right now, he just needed to speak with Michael.

"Fine, I'll talk with Tyson in the morning," Ozuma said. "But remind me to interrogate you later on your involvement in Tyson's hospitalization."

"Fine, you can interrogate me all you want tomorrow or whenever," Kenny smiled. "Night, Ozuma." The male on the other end said good night before hanging up. Dialing Michael's number, he really didn't have to wait long before the red head answered the phone. "Hey…"

"What's up Kenny?" Michael said, noting the sigh in his boyfriend's tone.

"Can you…can I come stay with you tonight?" Kenny asked.

"You…want to stay with me tonight? What's wrong?"

"I just need to stay with you tonight, okay. There's something that I need to talk to you about. I don't want it to wait until morning," Kenny said.

"It's that important, okay, I'll be over in fifteen minutes to pick you up, all right?" Michael said.

"Thanks Michael."

_**-oooo-**_

Tala walked into the two story three bedroom house that he was sharing with his cousin. The house, of course, belonged to some of their family on Tala's mother side of the family, but no one ever used the fully furnished house. The two received ownership of it after everything they went through, though there were certain rules for them keeping the place. The number one rule was not to do anything that would otherwise place shame on the family.

Seeing the light on in the kitchen from where he stood in the hallway, Tala tossed his coat on the coat rack and walked towards the light. Rounding the corner, he found his cousin sitting at the kitchen table smoking a cigarette while a bottle of Vodka was in front of him along with two shot glasses. Kai looked up from the bottle to stare at Tala who was coming to sit down at the table.

"I suppose I don't have to say a word, huh?" Kai remarked, offering the other half of the cigarette to his cousin. Of course, Tala passed up the smoke and grabbed the bottle, pouring himself a drink into the empty shot glass.

"Did we really spend too much time away?" Tala inquired, picking up the shot glass while setting the bottle down.

"I suppose we did," Kai sighed. "It was only natural that…well you know."

"Yeah…" Silence fell between them as Tala slowly sipped on his shot, letting the fiery liquid burn a slow trail down his throat. Kai clasped his hands together, resting his head against his hands.

"Tala…" Kai finally said.

"Yeah what?" Tala set down the now empty shot glass, looking across the table to where Kai was looking out a window at the falling snow.

"Are you going to give up?" Kai inquired.

"Are you?" Tala countered.

"A part of me wants to let go, then there's this selfish part that's telling me to do what is necessary to get him back in my life," Kai sighed. "Which part do you think should I follow?"

"The part that's telling you to be selfish," Tala responded.

"I thought you were going to say that," Kai chuckled.

"Then why did you ask? You know I'm not going to give Kenny up so easily," Tala said, raising a brow to his cousin. "I just have to regroup my thoughts and figure out how I'm going to get him back."

"Then I guess I can't give in so easily either," Kai smirked. "We'll just take some time to reinforce our efforts then."

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: All right then. There we go. Since I really don't have much to say in this case, I'm just going to end the chapter and thank everyone for enjoying it. Now I have to go find something else to do. Onwards to the next story then.


	12. Chapter 12

Rim: All right, it seems that management is changing the scheduling of things a lot. By management, I want everyone to know that means my brain. So it seems that we're going back to a Monday through Sunday schedule with fanfics. So expect to see a few updates on Saturdays and Sundays when I don't have to work late or at all. Oh, and thanks to everyone's reviews for last chapter.

_**-oooooo-**_

Kenny walked over to his dresser, pulling open the third drawer that contained underwear, and grabbed a clean pair before opening the drawer under it and grabbed a pair of socks. Walking back over to his duffel bag, Kenny dumped the items in the bag where the rest of his overnight items rested within the bag. Once done, he flopped down on the bed with a sigh, his thoughts roaming back over to ten minutes before when he sat in Tala's car.

Closing his eyes, the brunette could still recall everything as if it happened seconds before. The feel of Tala's lips against his neck, the way it made his heart do flips in his chest, even the way he began shaking with anticipation. He didn't even resist when Tala kissed him, rather encouraging the action to continue despite knowing that he shouldn't. He wanted Tala to touch and kiss him, to feel Tala's hands roam over ever inch of his body, even to…

"Stop it," Kenny muttered shaking his head of what could have come next if he hadn't stopped the red head. If he hadn't stopped Tala…right now…the two of them could have likely been in the backseat of the car. No matter how much Kenny had wanted to, he knew in the end, his heart wouldn't be able to keep in the guilt he felt, hurting not just one person, but two in the end.

He hoped that Tala could understand that it was for the best. Then again…Tala wasn't the type to just be okay with it. If anything, Tala was not going to let that be the end of it no matter how things appeared when Kenny was leaving the car. He knew the red head to well to think that he was going to disappear he was so too stubborn to give up. A short smile curled the corners of Kenny's mouth, thinking about how stubborn Tala had been three summers ago. And how, in the end, Tala got his way, but not before Kenny got his way.

Then again, Tala getting his way meant that he was going to be in crossfire with Michael, which was the last thing Kenny hoped to come about in this situation. If he could, Kenny wanted Michael to meet Tala, maybe get the two to have a conversation, seeing just how alike they were. If all went well they could be friends. Then again, Tala would be annoyed by anyone that he found was exactly like him, other than Kai. Another possibility occurred also: Tala might make enemies with Michael. As said earlier, Tala was stubborn when he wanted something.

Pushing himself back up from the bed, Kenny grabbed his duffel bag from the bed and closed it, before walking over to a notebook situated on the top of his desk where the laptop rested. Flipping the notebook open to a clean page, he tore out a sheet then grabbed a pen from the small stationary on the desk. Scribbling down a short note telling his mother that he was going to be at a friend's house for the night and if she needed to get in contact with him to call his cell phone, Kenny placed the pen down and picked up the note, carrying it out the room with him.

Thinking back to that summer three years ago, Kenny for the life of him couldn't figure out what took the two so long to get to Massachusetts from Tennessee. It wasn't that long a way by plane, and no more than a few days ride by car or motorcycle. Tala or Kai seemed unwilling right now to tell them what happened, or explain why they didn't at least call to tell them where they were or they were still alive. Everyone in Tennessee thought the two were dead, even his friend Max's mother who had been their psychiatrist. Maybe he should give Max a call tomorrow to give his mother the message about Tala and Kai. He was sure she would be relieved to know nothing happened to them. Max use to say how his mother regretted being unable to be there to do something for Tala and Kai, now she didn't have to beat herself up about it.

Once downstairs, Kenny walked into the kitchen, placing the note on the refrigerator with a magnet. After the brunette was done with that task, he went to the living room, sitting his bag on the floor before sitting himself on the couch. In the quiet, darkness of the room, Kenny touched his lips, still able to feel the gentle pressure against his lips from where Tala kissed him. He couldn't deny that it felt good. Nor could he say he had imagined kissing Michael; that dissolution was not going to be associated with his way of thinking or in order to make an excuse for his actions.

"It's going to be a problem if I can't keep Tala from making me react to him whenever he's around. And I still have to tell Michael the truth," Kenny groaned, resting his head on the back of the chair. Just when he thought life was going to give him a break, it decides to screw him over yet again. Tossing him into another storm he wasn't ready for. What exactly was he going to do and how was he going to tell Michael the truth when he had such a hard time telling Tala?

Lifting his head up, Kenny heard the sounds of a car pulling up to the curb. Getting up off the couch, Kenny grabbed his bag from the floor then walked towards the front door and opened the door to find Michael's black Ford Mustang on the curb. Walking out the house and locking the door behind him, Kenny walked towards the car just as Michael was getting out his car to open the passenger side door for Kenny. Blue eyes gave the slightly younger a questioning look when he found the short smile barely gracing the corners of his mouth.

"You look like your best friend lost more brain cells than he needs to," Michael joked once he got Kenny into the car and was in the driver's side of the vehicle. Kenny turned his head to glance over towards his boyfriend. In the light of the moonlight shining through the flakes of snow that still fell, Kenny watched the light of concern flicker within Michael's eyes.

"I don't think Tyson needs to lose anymore brain cells tonight," Kenny said.

"Well you look like he has," Michael said, taking the car out of park, and pulling away from the curb. "So what's up? Why did you finally want to come spend the night with me all of a sudden? As many times as I've asked you before and you've shot me down repeatedly, I thought it was final."

"Well…I suppose that nothing is final until I bash your head in," Kenny teased lightly.

"And I don't think you would hesitate in doing so," Michael countered with a shake of his head. "So, why all of a sudden?"

"It's not all of a sudden." This time is was Kenny's turn to counter. "It's not like I jumped out in the middle of the street while you were riding by and screamed for you to take me to your apartment."

"True, but it was on those lines, I just wasn't driving by. Besides, you're not the type of person who does things on impulses you have reasons for everything so what are the reasons behind this?" Michael said. "Even though, it would just be nice if you up and decided all of a sudden you wanted to stay with me because you were getting lonely at nights."

"Michael…" Kenny trailed off for a second looking out the window at the falling snow covering cars they were passing. It was true, for everything he did, there was a reason behind it now was no exception. The only reason he wanted to be at Michael's apartment was to discuss the situation with his boyfriend, instead of some other motives or just the impulse to be near the other. There were over a dozen different occasions he had the opportunity to go home with the red head, it was just that he never felt it necessary to go that route.

"Hey," Michael said, redirecting Kenny's attention back to him. With a toothy grin, he continued his sentence. "I don't want you to think that I'm accusing you of not wanting to be in my company, I'm actually excited that you're going to be spending the night with me. We can sit up all night and exchange gossip and do each other's toe nails."

"Oh joy," Kenny said with a roll of his eyes, but on his lips a smile twitched the corners of his mouth. "Sounds like the best night I'm going to ever have. You know, you're crazy."

"Isn't that why you like me?" Michael batted his eyes at Kenny momentarily before turning his attention back to the street, making a left near the old library that stood abandoned two years prior to being shut down for a newer complex three blocks away. The mayor of the city was considering reopening the building for a new project later that year.

"There's actually a reason for liking you?" Kenny gasped, widening his eyes as he stared at Michael. "I thought it was just because I was insane!"

"You're really funny, you know that?" Michael said with light sarcasm.

"Thank you, everyone's always telling me how funny," Kenny smiled.

"You know I was being sarcastic don't you?" Michael questioned, cocking a brow towards his boyfriend.

"I know," Kenny stated.

"And?" Michael said, with emphasis on the word.

"And what?" The smile on Kenny's lips widened, finding a blue eye study him momentarily before turning back to the road. Michael shook his head, but didn't say another word. "You know I was just teasing you."

"One day, I'm going to get you back for it," Michael responded.

"I'll be waiting for that day, then," Kenny nodded. Sitting back in the seat, Kenny relaxed a little, the tension in his shoulders lessening from their conversation. Now if only he could stay like that for the rest of the time he would need to tell Michael the truth over why he wanted to be with the red head right now. The atmosphere in the air continued to remain light even after the talking stopped.

Looking out the window at the scenery, he found one or two people on the street enjoying the falling of the transparent crystalline flakes. A few couples held onto their lovers, talking softly amongst themselves, or laughing. Life really seemed to enjoy tormenting him everyone else in the world seemed carefree of worries. Had he pissed off fate in a previous life, and it was now coming back to kick him in the ass? Either that or the situation was just too tempting to tweak around with. Continuing to stare out the window, Kenny watched Michael turn the car into an entrance of a building complex.

Checking out the exterior of the building, Kenny realized it was one of the new upscale neighborhoods constructed about three years ago. The apartments were supposedly very spacious in this area of town, though cost a lot of money. He wondered if Michael's housing was paid through the school or a scholarship.

"My father owns the complex that was constructed," Michael said, as if being able to read Kenny's thoughts. He said that I could stay here as long as I'm in school, but once I graduate or whatever, I would have to move out. Such a nice father isn't he?"

"You mean…your father owns all of this?" Kenny gaped. "Your family must be well off then. I never knew, why didn't you say something earlier?"

"Because he's my stepfather, my old man ran off with my sixteen year old babysitter when I was ten. My mom remarried when I was thirteen to the man who currently owns this building. He's a cool guy, we get along well now and days considering how much I hated him when he first moved in with me and mom," Michael said, parking the car in an empty parking space close to the second row of cars in front of the building. Putting the car in park and cutting off the engine, Michael got out the car, heading to the other side to open Kenny's door for him.

"Your father ran off with your sixteen year old babysitter…that is a new one on me," Kenny said with a shake of his head, getting out of the car with his duffel bag. "You know, I don't really know as much about you even if we've been going together for about two months now."

"Quite true, but there's nothing really significant to tell, my father was a lazy cheating asshole anyway. My mother tolerated it because she was cheating on him anyway, and I just got use to it because my mom was always there for me. She was the real genius of the family she works for a pharmaceutical company here in Northampton," Michael remarked, leading Kenny towards an elevator by the entrance of the building's lower floor apartments. "Before that, she had a job on Wall Street with stocks and bonds, my father stayed home taking care of me. She came home on the weekends."

"But that wasn't enough for your father, huh?" Kenny questioned.

"Nope, he started cheating on her when I was eight. She worked stocks and bonds from the time I was six to the time I was ten. I remember when he brought some lady home from a bar and I came home to find them screwing on the couch. And I remember this time mom took me on this business lunch with her and she rented two hotel suites, one for me and the other for her and her "client" to use," Michael chuckled, thinking about what he saw when he peeked through the keyhole to the room.

"It seems that your parents shaped your sexual behavior?" Kenny said, stepping onto the elevator that they were going to use to go up to the fifth floor of the complex. He looked up at Michael who had a smile on his face.

"Oh yeah, since my father would just screw around and not care if I was in the room, I learned about sex education early. My mother learned he was cheating when I asked her different things that I saw. She never said more than that he should be a better example for me. I think she stopped loving him a long time ago," Michael thought. "They were happier when they weren't together and miserable when they were. Mom didn't bat an eye when he ran off. Just filed for a divorce and moved on."

"Sounds like someone I know," Kenny chuckled. "I'm guessing that you two are so much alike that you hardly ever get into fights?"

"Basically you're right. She gave me a fit when she found out that I liked guys and girls, of course that fight was short lived. When I brought home my first ever boyfriend when I was sixteen, she stopped freaking out," Michael smiled. The elevator dinged when they reached the fifth floor, the doors automatically opening to let them out. Michael led Kenny off the elevator, pulling out the keys to his apartment. Looking around, Kenny saw that there was only one other doors on the whole floor, and that was to the apartment on the left hand side to the one Michael was placing the key into, and another one further down to another apartment. In all, there seemed to be only three compartments on the entire floor.

"Does she live with your stepfather?" Kenny inquired, walking into the apartment once Michael had the door opened.

Looking around, Kenny gaped at the spaciousness of the apartment. The living room was fully carpeted in a deep blue plush carpet which stopped at the left side of the room leading into the kitchen with linoleum flooring. A wooden bar about the height of one's waist separated the reasonably large living from the kitchen which was in no way dwarfed in size because of the space of the living room. In fact, the full table that was sitting near the bar and refrigerator against the wall where you would enter the kitchen, left more than enough room to walk around near the counter containing a sink, coffee maker, toaster, and microwave. The stove was situated on the wall adjacent from the fridge where three cabinets were nestled together above the stove. A window in the living room overlooked the back parking lot and a small sprinkling of trees.

The living room itself contained the beige sofa facing towards the twenty-seventy inch wide screen TV with built in VCR and DVD player was on the floor close to the bar separating where one would enter the kitchen. An entertainment center holding a stereo, some CDs, and some DVD movies rested on the other side of the TV. A small glass table cushioned between the couch and another beige armchair held a lamp currently flicked on. A light switch between the kitchen and the short carpeted hallway held two switches, one probably for the kitchen and the other for the living room's over head ceiling light. In the hallway was another switch which could be to light the way down the hall to the closed room door Kenny saw.

"Nice place," Kenny said.

"Well, it comfortable, I'm not complaining," Michael said. "Come on, I'll show you around." Kenny followed behind Michael who switched on a low lighting in the hall showing a door on each side before getting to the last room down the hallway. "To your left is the bathroom, it has a shower if you want to get cleaned up. Downstairs on the base floor is where the complex's few washing machines are, but I doubt you're going to need to use that tonight though. And to your right is just a room where I keep all my junk."

"Your junk?" Kenny repeated with a short smile.

"Well yeah, boxes of old books, an old bookshelf, table, my baseball gear, a trophy or two for playing baseball in little league, old photo albums, boxes of things that I still have from my childhood that I keep forgetting to get rid of, you know things like that," Michael said, walking down the hall to where the last room was. "And this is my room."

Michael pushed open the door and cut on the light when he walked in. Kenny walked in, looking around at the king size bed resting in the center of the room near the back wall. A nightstand to the left of the bed contained a small lamp and alarm clock. A full wall closet rested to the left side of the bed. The dresser was situated right next to the light switch. A desk sat against the right side of the bed, a large window rested in front of the desk. On the desk rested an MP3 player and a few books.

"Nice room," Kenny said, placing his bag by the door and went to go sit on the edge of the bed. Michael followed the gesture, sitting beside the brunette. "You really do have it good here, your stepfather must think so highly of you to let you stay here without paying rent."

"Well, as long as I'm in school, he says I can stay, so just think, when I graduate, I'm going to have to move out or pay rent if I want to stay here. It's close to a eight hundred and fifty a month to stay here, so unless I get someone to room with me, I'll be out of a place to live," Michael said. "He's nice, but can be a bastard when it comes to deals. But I guess he's just trying to show me that life isn't so easy."

"No…life really isn't as easy as you think sometimes," Kenny sighed, his thoughts retracing to the real reason he had asked to come over. Kenny tilted his head to the side, finding Michael staring at him with a renewed look of concern in his eyes.

"What do you have on your mind? You can stop beating around the bush and tell me, it's not going to make it any simpler hiding it," Michael said. "I'm listening you know."

"It's not that simple," Kenny sighed. "There are a lot of things that…well…it's complicated, that's all."

"Start from the beginning and work your way up to the problem," Michael said. "It's not like I have anything more important to do, so if it takes all night to tell me what's up, then go ahead. I can make some coffee and we can crash in the morning."

"I don't think it's going to take all night," Kenny said with a short smile. "But…thanks anyway."

"So, where does this story begin?"

Kenny looked down at his hands, his brows furling together trying to figure out what he should tell first, about Tala's past or about what happened that afternoon. Eventually, he considered it was better to go with the events of that day which would lead up to telling Michael about Tala. Lifting his head up, he found a patient look on Michael's face, relieved to have the other's calmness to settle his jittery nerves. He didn't know exactly still how the red head would react to his boyfriend almost giving in completely to temptation. "I suppose that the story would begin this afternoon after you dropped me off. My mother told me that there was a surprise waiting for me in my room. I had no idea that the surprise was…"

"Was what?" Michael inquired when he heard hesitation in his boyfriend's voice. "What happened?"

"Remember…the guy that I told you about before we started going out, Tala? Well…after all this time…he finally came back," Kenny said, biting his bottom lip.

"The man that stole your heart…he came back today?" Michael said.

"Before, I never told you the entire story," Kenny interrupted as he saw the flicker of anger within Michael's eyes. "Before…I told you that he just disappeared, there was more to the story than that. I've never really told anyone, Kain and Rei just knew because they helped me deal with it. But three years ago when I went on a summer vacation with my parents to Jackson, Tennessee…that's when I met Tala, and his cousin Kai. We started out far from the lines of attraction."

"How did you meet?" Michael inquired, relaxing some while he let Kenny tell his story.

"Well…on our way into town, we got a flat tire, and my father tried to make me help him change it. Tala was just sort of in a tree lounging around and came down to help us," Kenny smiled, remembering his first impression of the red head and how ironic it would lead to more. "After that I saw him and his cousin around town. I learned from Tyson and some of his friends that the two had bad reputations and sort of the black sheep in town. Later on, I found out the truth behind things. Tala and I grew close that summer because I was someone he felt he could trust. There weren't a lot of people, probably two that seemed to care about him, his cousin Kai and the local doctor who watched them grow into trouble teens."

"And the day he broke your heart?" Michael inquired softly.

"That day…" It still sent shudders up his spine every time he remembered getting the call from Tyson and Max saying the two were dead. "About a week before…I had to go back here because my grandmother was sick. Tala told me…he loved me and we were going to live together when I graduated because he was going to move up here. Just the four of us…"

"Four?'

"Yeah…Tyson was with Tala's cousin Kai at the time. The four of us were going to get a place here in Northampton, but something happened. I'm not sure what really happened, but from what I heard, the two were trying to leave and their uncle went crazy, shooting them, killing a maid, and his own wife. It's speculated about whether he killed himself after that, or either Kai or Tala did. But for the last three years, we thought the two were dead."

"So it was a surprise when they showed up all of a sudden," Michael said.

"Exactly," Kenny said. "They're reluctant to talk about what happened right now, so I still don't know the truth. I had Tyson come down to the store where they were with me, but he didn't take the news well and…well he's in the hospital for the night. When you called me earlier, Tala was about to take me home." So this was it, now he had to tell Michael what happened, and then discover if the red head could forgive him for what happened. Lowering his head, Kenny could feel the tears in the corner of his eyes, welling up as he feared the worst.

"Kenny…" Michael frowned, seeing the tears trickling down the brunette's cheeks. Reaching out a hand, he pulled Kenny into his lap, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. "What happened? You can tell me, I won't be mad at you."

"I…I'm sorry Michael," Kenny cried.

"Tell me what happened," Michael repeated, holding onto the shaking brunette.

"I didn't mean to…it's just that when he kissed me…it…I couldn't help it, please don't hate me for it, I stopped him, and told him about you," Kenny said. Taking a chance of looking up, Kenny found a reflective look within Michael's eyes, the smile curling the corners of lips. "Michael…?"

"Well, when you tell me the whole story, I can understand how you didn't hesitate at first to respond to him, and I'm glad that you did let him know there was someone else in your life," Michael said softly. "But I only want you to be happy, you understand that. I told you that if it didn't work out between us, then I wasn't going to hold a grudge. If you want to be with him, then it's your decision and I will respect it, Kenny."

"I like him…I do," Kenny admitted.

"Then you've made up your mind?" Michael inquired.

"But…I think I'm falling in love with you," Kenny said, looking up into Michael's eyes. "He was my first love, that's something I can never forget, but I do care about you too, I just want you to know that. And that I want to be with you, to figure out if it can work out between us."

"Is that what you really want?" Michael asked, searching the other's eyes for some falsification in the statement that would let him know otherwise if Kenny was just pushing his previous love away.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't want it, you know that," Kenny smiled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "Sometimes I swear you can be dense, you know that don't you?"

"Oh, now I'm dense, whose the one crying about me hating them, knowing I would never be able to do so," Michael countered, leaning down to kiss Kenny on the forehead.

"You know what?" Kenny said.

"Hm?" Michael looked down to find the brunette frowning at him. "What's wrong now?"

"Kiss me on the lips and stop kissing me on the forehead," Kenny stated.

"Oh, you're being bold now," Michael chuckled, tilting Kenny's head up to kiss Kenny lightly on the lips before moving his mouth to towards the other's jaw line, his mouth going further down to tease the skin that was exposed. "Next thing you're going to tell me is—"

"Kiss me again," Kenny interrupted.

"Demanding now, I like that." Michael kissed the brunette again, surprised when he felt the tip of the brunette's tongue skimming his bottom lip. Opening his mouth, Michael deepened the kiss, hearing Kenny moaned lightly under the kiss. For a while he battled with Kenny for dominance of the kiss, which the brunette gave up minutes later, being subdued. When he finally pulled back, both were out of breath, Kenny's eyes shimmering with want in his deep blue depths. "Kenny…are you sure about this?"

"Kiss me again Michael," Kenny said, shifting his weight so he was straddling the red head's lap. Kenny leaned forward, kissing at Michael's throat softly, hearing the soft murmur of approval.

"Kenny…" Michael lifted his hands to the brunette's waist, pulling Kenny closer against him. Michael moved one of his hands up under Kenny's shirt, letting his fingers roam over the warm skin underneath. Kenny arched his back, a soft moan emitting from his lips. "Stop me if you…"

"Don't stop," Kenny said, taking the edges of his shirt and pulling it over his head. Tossing the shirt on the floor, he felt Michael's mouth ebbing away the fears that rested in his heart. Eventually, Kenny found himself under Michael while the other's hands tugged at the material of his pants, pulling them from around him. Kenny arched his back when a hand brushed lightly against the heat building in his crotch. A light sheen of perspiration dotted the flushed skin Michael nipped at. Looking down, he found Michael looking back up at him. "You don't need to ask, I want you to."

_**-oooo-**_

Tyson's eyes fluttered open, sensing another presence in the room. Turning his head to the side of the bed, he saw a blurry figure which came into focus once his eyes did. Sitting at his bedside with worry lined in his eyes was Ozuma, a flicker of relief interrupting when Tyson smiled at him. "Hey," Tyson said. "How long have you been sitting there watching me like that?"

"Long enough to worry that you weren't going to wake up," Ozuma remarked quietly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, my head doesn't hurt so much today, just feels a little tender from the fall. So what time is it?" Tyson said, beginning to sit up in bed.

"You should stain yourself, stay down," Ozuma said.

"I'm fine, it's not like I was in a car wreck," Tyson joked, sitting up against the pillows. "So, what time is it?"

"Close to eleven," Ozuma said.

"Wait…visiting hours start at ten, so you mean you've been here for nearly an hour watching me sleep?" Tyson inquired, staring at his boyfriend with a funny look. "I wasn't going to go anywhere you know, you could have came around noon. I doubt the doctors are going to set me free until later this afternoon anyway."

"I was worried about you."

"So worried that you had to watch me for an hour?" Tyson questioned.

"Well…I was sitting here thinking too," Ozuma admitted. "You know, I called Kenny last night to ask him where you were and then he told me you were here. I was afraid it was something serious. Then he tells me that you will explain everything that happened today. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I kept thinking it was going to be something…well…is it something serious?"

"Yes," Tyson nodded. Lowering his head for a long second, he finally lifted his eyes back to Ozuma, seeing the apprehension shining just under the surface of the patience he was trying to sustain. "Remember when Kenny told me he had something important to tell me at the show, everything has to do with what I found out when I went."

"Which was what?" Ozuma urged.

"Well…remember when I told you about Kai. There's a very funny thing about what I told you that I found out yesterday," Tyson said. "It seems that neither he nor his cousin Tala were dead after all. They haven't explained how they survived, but all I know is that it's really a miracle their uncle didn't kill them. I am sad Kai never once contacted me in the three years following that summer…just to tell me that he was alive or something."

"So, that means that he's here now?" Ozuma questioned, watching Tyson silently shake his head. Getting up from the chair he was sitting by the bed, to seat himself next to Tyson, Ozuma wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, tipping up Tyson's chin, to look into the other's deep blue eyes with a serious stare. "Should I ask what you've told him so far?"

"About you, how much I like you and how great a person you are," Tyson said. "But…he's not the type of person to just give up on something. He's been pursuing me since I could remember. And then finally getting me to love him in return when I was fifteen…I have a feeling he won't let you have me so easily. He's stubborn, much like his cousin, so I'm sure that Kenny is worried too."

"Ty, you love me don't you?" Ozuma inquired.

"Yes, of course. I want to be with you too, there is no mistaking that," Tyson responded.

"But you do love this guy too, right?"

"I care for Kai, but like I said, I'm with you now," Tyson nodded. "Are you having second thoughts about our relationship, Ozuma? I'm sorry if this is sudden and—" Tyson didn't get the rest of the sentence out as Ozuma kissed his on the lips then pulled back.

"Like you had any control of this. It's happened, so we make the best of things now and take it one step at a time. Who knows, maybe he will decide that your happiness is in best interest and leave you to me," Ozuma smiled softly.

"I'm sure you would like that," said a new voice in the room. Tyson resisted the urge to groan as he pulled away from Ozuma to look towards the door where Kai was standing in with crossed arms. His auburn eyes studied the other male who had his arms wrapped around Tyson, a look of jealousy and dislike plain in his stare while he continued to cock a brow in emphasis to his question. "But that isn't about to happen in this lifetime or a next one."

"Um…Ozuma…this is Kai," Tyson said. "Kai…this is Ozuma."

"I'm surprised the monkey was able to get someone to like him after you." Kai moved to the side to allow Tala into the room, much to Tyson's chagrin.

"And that's Kai's whore cousin Tala," Tyson said, glaring at the other.

"Tyson, if you would excuse me and your friend for a second, I want to speak with him outside," Kai interrupted before the banter between him and Tala could start up. Tyson broke the glare he had been giving Tala to look back to Kai, suspicion lingering in his gaze. "Don't worry, I'm not going to start a fight with him, I plan to talk and nothing more. You have my word."

"Ozuma…" Tyson shifted his eyes to Ozuma who was getting up off the bed.

"If he wants to talk, then fine, I see no harm in it," Ozuma replied, giving Tyson a reassuring smile he wasn't going to do anything as he walked towards Kai who held open the door to allow Ozuma's departure from the room before he exited himself, leaving Tala in Tyson's company. Outside the hospital room, Ozuma waited the other male to say something, but Kai remained silent, looking at the people walking by in the halls.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Ozuma stated after a minute passed.

"Tyson likes you, I've gathered that much from what I've heard, but as he said too, I'm not the type to give him up so easily. Tyson has been the only one I've ever loved since I've known him, and he will be the only one that I would die for," Kai replied eventually.

"Is that all you have to say?" Ozuma questioned. "Or is there more?"

"There's more," Kai smirked. Shifting an auburn eye over to the shorter male, Kai focused solely on Ozuma. "I respect that you aren't going to back down, I did spend too much time away without letting him know I was alive, but I have my reasons I will explain to him in due time. In fact, I think it's going to be interesting having a component rival for a while."

"And?" Ozuma had a feeling he wasn't about to like what the dual haired older had to tell him, especially with the smirk in the corners of his mouth rising higher.

"And when he's finally realized that he wants to be with me again then this game will end. And you can move on with your life and forget about him. For now I will let you have your time with him," Kai smirked, watching the younger male flushed with anger.

Inside the room, while Kai is pissing off Ozuma on the outside, Tyson is continues to stare over at Tala whose leaning against the wall looking agitated. The bluenette figured it was due to the fact that Kenny wasn't at the hospital yet. "Why are you here anyway, it's not like you want to see how I'm doing? My cousin isn't here yet, he's probably at home sleep," Tyson spoke.

"He's not home," Tala replied. "We stopped by there before we came here. His mother said that last night he left a note that he was going to stay over at a friend's house."

"Would you be the reason behind that?" Tyson accused. "You did take him home last night, didn't you? Did you try something with him, Tala?"

"And what if I did?" Tala voiced. "I didn't hear much of a complaint from him when I was kissing him."

"You asshole, he told you he had a boyfriend didn't he? And you just try to take advantage of him! Do you realize how hurt he was when we…" Tyson trailed off momentarily before regaining his composure. "Do you know how hurt he was when we heard the news that you were supposedly found dead in a ditch? It's taken him three years to get over his pain, and find someone he likes again, now you just think you can do what you like!"

"It's not doing what I like, it's doing what we both want," Tala corrected. "He wanted me last night. He knew it, and I knew it also. It was just a last minute hesitation because he didn't want to hurt his supposed boyfriend's feelings when he would have let me fuck him."

"You…" Tyson narrowed his eyes as he grabbed his phone from the hospital table by the bed and cut it on. Dialing Rei's number, he placed the phone to his ear. The line rang two times before Rei picked it up with a light yawn. "Hey Rei, it's me Tyson."

"Oh…hi Ty, is there something you need?" Rei said.

"Well, I was just wondering if Kenny was over your way or if you and Kain have seen him since yesterday?" Tyson remarked.

"Well…no, not since yesterday afternoon, why do you ask?" Rei inquired, his tone touching the lines of worry. "Isn't he home?"

"He left a note with his mother last night saying he was going to spend the night with a friend, I figured that he was with you or Kain since there are no other close friends besides Oliver that I can think of. And I don't have Oliver's number," Tyson said.

"Ever thought he might be with Michael? Maybe he got horny and needed a little private time with his boyfriend," Kain shouted in the background.

"Tell your boyfriend to shut up, Rei," Tyson sighed.

"I can't tell Kain that you know that. But he might be right and Kenny's with Michael, it would be reasonable enough. If you want, me and Kain can drive by his apartment and see if Kenny's over there while you try his cell phone," Rei said.

"Well, I suppose that would be logical. I'll do go ahead and call him and talk to you two later," Tyson said with a nod.

"All right, bye Tyson."

"Bye Rei." Tyson hung up the phone, staring at Tala. "Well, it seems that you've more than likely ran my cousin into the arms of his boyfriend." Tala didn't say anything as Tyson dialed Kenny's cell phone number just as Ozuma and Kai were coming back into the room, Kai with a satisfied smirk on his face, and Ozuma looking on the verge of strangulating the dual haired older. With a frown, Tyson turned his eyes on Kai.

"I didn't lay a hand on him, as I promised," Kai grinned. "I said what I had to say and then I left it alone."

"I bet you did," Tyson sighed, listening as Kenny's phone went immediately to voicemail, which only meant he had it turned off. Disconnecting the line, Tyson placed the phone down on the bed and looked over at Ozuma. "You okay, Zuma?"

"I'm fine," Ozuma assured. "Who were you trying to call?"

"Kenny, but his phone is cut off. What did he say to you after you two talked last night?" Tyson questioned.

"He had to call Michael. He's not home?" Ozuma asked. Tyson shook his head, watching out the corner of his eye as Tala exited the room. Immediately Kai followed after his cousin to find out what was up. "The red head looked pissed."

"Oh, he's worst than Kai, probably the thought of Kenny being with another guy right now is pissing him off," Tyson said. "Are you sure you're okay though? What did Kai say to you?"

"Nothing you have to worry about, it's just his cocky attitude that pisses me off," Ozuma growled.

"Well…just think it's only the beginning of things."

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: All right, I'm finished! Next chapter is going to be really interesting and then will be the start of that one wonderful thing called drama. Yes, triangles are being established and my brain has so many nice little ideas that I plan to work around with. The chapters are about to get a little bit more interesting from here on out.


	13. Chapter 13

Rim: Okay, I suppose it's safe to say now that I have school out of the way and my lost of sanity has been reclaimed. So, I can move onwards with my other lapses of sanity, but before I do, I would like to thank my reviewer Kegom so very much for the review. I carry your review around with me and can not express more how much it has made me smile when I've felt down. So I shall dedicate this chapter to you.

**_-oooooo-_**

The footsteps were muffled by the deep carpet absorbing the water which remained on the feet of the red head walking down the hall back to his bedroom. The towel in Michael's hands was being used to towel off his damp hair before he pushed open the door to his bedroom. Walking into the room, Michael tossed the damp towel on the back of the chair at the desk. His eyes fell on the sleeping figure in his bed. A smile curled the ends of his mouth into a mischievous grin, but decided not to wake up the brunette just yet.

Walking over to the dresser, Michael opened the bottom drawer, pulling out a clean pair of boxers and pulled them on. After he was finished, the red head then walked over to the bed, lightly climbing on carefully so not to wake his boyfriend before he wanted it to occur. Kenny stirred at the motion, but remained asleep as Michael climbed over him, looking down at the peaceful angelic face. The mass of silky brown hair was fanned out under his head.

"Kenny, want to wake up now?" Michael murmured softly, leaning down to kiss a path up the brunette's neck. A light moan escaped Kenny's lips while turning his head towards the mouth kissing behind his ear.

"Michael…" Kenny yawned, but the motion was interrupted by soft lips and a tongue roaming around lazily inside Kenny's mouth. A moan curled up from the back of Kenny's throat, his hands reaching up to pull Michael completely on top of him. After a while, the need for air pulled the two apart.

"You know, you taste even better in the mornings," Michael grinned, brushing aside the strands of hair which tumbled into Kenny's eyes the night before. "Last night was the most amazing night of my life."

"Was I that good?" Kenny asked, kissing Michael lightly.

"I couldn't get enough of you, could I?" Michael questioned, beginning to move the cover from off the naked body which was turning him on again. "Every time I thought I had enough, you pulled me back in."

"I did, huh?" Kenny whispered, arching up against Michael who let out a moan, pushing his hips down into Kenny's. "So, tell me, when you take me up to your uncle's cabin, are you going to be this insatiable up there too?"

"What do you mean am I going to be insatiable while there too?" Michael frowned even while his mouth roamed down Kenny's neck. "You've ruined the joy of me seducing you when we get there, so I say it's only fair."

"That's not very good logic," Kenny laughed, squirming under the pressure of Michael's mouth against his neck. "Besides, you shouldn't be so sure that you would have seduced me when we got to your uncle's cabin. Remember what you said, I could use the time to write my novel while you practiced your baseball skills."

"I would have practiced my skill to get you in bed also," Michael smirked, letting go of the now bright red skin of Kenny's neck. His hands slipped under the cover, allowing them to wander a path downwards pass Kenny's navel, before moving inwards to the warmth of the brunette's inner thighs. Kenny arched his back when Michael's hands brushed a sensitive spot, a low wanton moan spilling from his lips. "You're doing it again."

"I'm doing it again," Kenny sighed with pleasure. "You're the one with the roaming hands."

"But when you moan like that, you leave me no choice but to do this," Michael grinned wickedly, grinding his hips into Kenny's once more. Another moan erupted from Kenny's now red lips, tossing his head to the side as his body heat rose drastically. "If I don't have you right now, I don't think I will be able to contain myself from who knows what."

"Didn't you just take a shower?" Kenny murmured, running his hands through the still damp hair.

"I'll just take another one with you this time," Michael responded, leaning in to kiss Kenny once more. Closing his eyes, Kenny let his hands run down the length of Michael's back, feeling a light shudder rise at the fingertips of his boyfriend dancing across his back. Eventually, Michael broke the kiss for a breath of air, looking down into the dark eyes shimmering with lust. Reaching over towards the nightstand by the bed, Michael was just preparing to reach inside to top drawer when the doorbell rung.

"Do you think you need to answer it?" Kenny inquired.

"I don't have to," Michael whispered, kissing another path down Kenny's chest.

"But what if it's someone that needs your help with something?"

"They can call and leave a message, and once I finish satisfying the both of us, then I will return their call," Michael replied. "Now do you want me in you or not?"

"What if it's your stepfather and he needs to speak with you about something?" Kenny said, avoiding the question Michael asked of him.

"You aren't going to stop questioning me until I get up and see what they want, are you?" Michael heaved a sigh, pulling himself from on top of Kenny.

"Well, just think, it might not be anyone important, maybe an Avon lady," Kenny said, sitting up in bed. "And just think, if it's an Avon lady, I'll be waiting right here for you and then we can finish this."

"If it's an Avon lady, I'm going to pull down my boxers and show her what she's interrupting with whatever she's selling," Michael stated, walking out the room. Kenny's laughter followed him out the room as the red head went down the hall. The doorbell rung once more as Michael reached the living room. Going up to the door, he pulled it open, finding Kain and Rei standing behind the door. "Oh, I have two Avon ladies."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kain said, raising a brow to the taller red head. Michael leaned against the doorframe, staring from Kain to Rei.

"Nothing, what do you want?" Michael said with a shake of his head, the smile in the corners of mouth. He didn't think Kenny would appreciate Michael showing them what they were interrupting, might take it the wrong way. "It's too early in the morning to be making courtesy calls to my house."

"What do we want? Do you have something more important to do than answer our inquisitive questions about where our best friend is?" Kain asked as Michael let them into the apartment, Rei shutting the door once they were all inside. "Tyson said Kenny left a note at home last night he was going to stay over at a friend's house. We figured he might have come over here."

"Tyson's looking for his cousin, well that explains things," Michael replied, walking back to the bedroom and pushing the door open. Kenny was lying on his side, looking out the window at the morning. "I suppose it's important enough to stop what we were doing then."

"What do you mean stop—" Kain's eyes widened when he found all of Kenny's clothes on the floor and his best friend in Michaels' bed looking tousled. Turning blue eyes on Michael, Kain's vision fell back on the brunette sitting up in the bed.

"Kain, Rei, what's up? What are you two doing here?" Kenny knew it was coming, but the immediate response he expected from his blue haired friend did not come. This shocked Kenny, seeing as how this was the one thing Kain complained about on a regular basis when it came to Kenny's relationship with Michael. "I'm surprised that Kain hasn't waked up the whole building complex, you're losing your touch Culbert."

"Do you really want to get him started since he hasn't broke out in that wide annoying grin yet?" Michael chuckled, taking the blue haired man by the collar and beginning to drag him out the room. "I'll take him to the kitchen with me, I'm sure that Rei wants to speak to you alone without his loud mouth boyfriend interrupting every two seconds."

"I resent that Laytner!" Kain growled, regaining his composure. Pointing a finger towards Kenny while being dragged out the room, he narrowed his eyes. "And you…I'm going to let you hear an earful of it when Rei's done! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes mother," Kenny nodded. Kain would have said more, but Michael closed the door, so the sound only came out muffled. The noise headed down the hall, leaving silence between Kenny and Rei. The black haired teen walked over to the edge of the bed, sitting down where he was facing his best friend.

"So, how did this come about?"

"You want to hear the short version, or the long one?" Kenny questioned.

"The long one," Rei requested. "If you need to cry, you can go ahead my shoulder is free for you to lean on."

"Thanks a lot Rei," Kenny smiled, the gesture slowly beginning to fade when he recalled the events of the night before. "Well, I suppose I should start at when you and Kain left me for the afternoon. Tyson called me back after the message, which could have been about eight if I remember correctly. He came down to the shop, and we went outside to talk about it. I didn't really know how I was going to tell him, so I sort of led him towards it."

"How did he take it?" Rei asked, seeing his best friend's eyes dim.

"Well…right now…he's in the hospital. He just collapsed out on the sidewalk, he was out cold for almost thirty full minutes when we admitted him to the hospital," Kenny sighed. "But you don't have to worry about him, he's fine. The doctors will probably release him in another hour or so."

"Thank God," Rei breathed with relief. "Then again, Tyson has a thick skull anyway. Ozuma's probably out of his mind right now. You told him didn't you?"

"After he nearly made me go deaf yelling, yeah, he knows. It really wouldn't surprise me if he was there right now with Tyson."

"So, after you told Tyson and he found out, what happened?" Rei's gold eyes carefully watched his friend for signs of being unable to continue. He was aware of how touchy a subject it must be for both him and Tyson, the last thing Rei wanted was to push his friend over the edge too soon. After three years ago, Rei would do everything in his power not to see the blank blue eyes return.

"Tyson…he talked with Kai, told him about Ozuma," Kenny replied.

"Didn't take it well?" Rei asked.

"Not well at all," Kenny shook his head. "He left, Tyson was hurt. He kept saying Kai hated him now. The only thing I could do was assure him Kai would never do anything like that. We talked for a little while then I left with Tala. He said he would take me home. We talked, then I got a call from Michael out in the parking lot who went just as spastic when hearing the word hospital and me. I calmed him down and told him I would talk to him later. Tala…he…"

Rei watched the tear well up, moving to take his best friend into his arms. Raising a hand, he lightly stroked the tousled burnt sienna hair, smoothing the bangs from Kenny's eyes. "Take as much time as you need. If you can't finish it right now, I understand."

"When he…got to my house…he kissed me…" Kenny whimpered. "I wanted him so much in a matter of seconds. His lips and hands felt so good on me, I didn't want him to stop…and I almost…"

"Kenny, you can stop at any time," Rei murmured, but Kenny shook his head.

"I almost let him have me…but I couldn't…because I couldn't do that to Michael. I know it might not have seemed like I cared so much for him, but I realize that he's been there for me. I don't want to lose him like that, I think I'm beginning to fall in love with him, Rei," Kenny sniffed. "Tala…I don't know what he thinks about things, but I know he won't give up so easily."

"You came over here to talk things out with Michael and tell him, didn't you?" Rei asked. "And he accepted everything you told him?"

"With open arms," Kenny whispered, a smile twitching the corner of his lips. "He said he would never hate me for what happen between me and Tala. Last night…for the first time in years, I opened myself to someone and I wasn't left alone. Michael completed something in me that's been aching for three years."

"I'm happy for you," Rei declared. "Now all you have to do is find a way to deal with Tala, right? Have you decided what to do about him?"

"I'm going to tell him the truth that I want to be with Michael, but I don't want him disappearing from my life. Even if we're not together, I need him near me. It just wouldn't sit well with me if he just walked away," Kenny responded, lifting his head up from Rei's shoulder. "Do you think he's going to understand that sort of logic?"

"Only time will tell," Rei stated, moving Kenny from his embrace. "So, did you have enough fun last night?"

"Rei," Kenny whined, a blush coloring his cheeks.

A cat like grin spread across Rei's face, seeing how embarrassed he was making the other. "Just think, at least it's me asking the question instead of Kain. Nothing wrong with preparing you for the inevitable, is there? So tell me, was it mind blowing or not?"

"You're getting like Kain now, which shows you two have been together too long now?" Kenny rolled his eyes. "Get out so I can get dress, we should probably head on over to the hospital to see when the doctors are going to release Tyson."

"I'm not getting an answer am I?" Rei pouted.

"Why is my sex so important to you?" Kenny responded, quirking up a brow. Rei said nothing, leaving Kenny to look up at the ceiling with a silent curse. "Guess I'm not getting an answer myself, huh? Fine, you want to know, he screwed me until we were too exhausted to do anything but sleep, and it felt damn good too."

"That's all I wanted to know," Rei beamed. "Now you can get dressed."

"If you tell Kain what I said, I will kill you, Rei. You know I'm not above coming after you," Kenny threatened, watching his friend get off the bed and walked over to the door.

"I know," Rei nodded, tossing a glance over his shoulder while he opened the door to the bedroom. "I promise, my lips are sealed, I'll let you tell him on your own no matter how much he begs me."

"I'm keeping you to that promise," Kenny reminded.

"I know, and you know I won't break it. Have I ever?" Rei grinned. "Now get dressed, we'll be waiting for you." Leaving the room, he heard the brunette commenting to himself over an issue that happened long ago. With a short smile on his face, Rei headed down to hall to the living room, hearing Kain scolding Michael over something.

"You better not have hurt him last night, if he can't walk, you're dead buddy, you hear me, d-e-a-d," Kain remarked.

"What the hell do you think I did to him?" Michael inquired.

"I've heard stories about you Laytner. People have said they haven't been able to walk straight for days once you've got them into bed. If I find him limping you're dead."

"You know, I'm going to kick you out if you keep harassing me in my own house," Michael announced, just as Rei got into the living room. Kain was sitting on the couch staring at Michael who was leaning against the bar separating the kitchen from the living room. The red head held a mug in his hands, occasionally raising it to his lips to take a sip from it. Two pairs of blue eyes turned in Rei's direction when he came fully into the room.

"So, how's my baby?" Kain questioned Rei, shifting a stare in Michael's direction.

"For all the shit you're always talking about my boyfriend, you certainly are a mother hen, aren't you Culbert?" Michael teased.

"Fuck off, that's my best friend you screwed, we've been tight for almost seven years now," Kain said, sticking up his middle finger at Michael.

"Is he always this bipolar when it comes to Kenny?" Michael asked Rei.

"You should see when we were younger, he was worse than he is now," Rei chuckled. "And Kain, you don't have to worry about Kenny, he's fine."

"So, what's going on?" Kain wondered. "What happened that landed our buddy over here with his boyfriend and some late night escapades in bed? Because the last time I checked, Kenny was indifferent about being screwed." Kain looked at his boyfriend who came to sit on the couch beside him, silence falling over the three momentarily while Rei considered how to break the news in easily. Sometimes Kain could be impulsive, especially when angered, no matter if the situation had been handled or not. "Rei, what's up?"

"Well for one, Tyson's in the hospital, so when Kenny finishes getting dressed, we're going to go see when the doctors are going to release him today," Rei started.

"What the hell happened last night after we left the store?" Kain frowned.

"To make the story short, Kenny got Tyson to come down to the shop so he could tell Tyson about Tala's cousin, Tyson freaks out and collapses in front of the store on the sidewalk. Kenny has to ship Tyson off to the hospital then he gets a ride home by Tala. That leads to…" Rei trailed off, shifting his eyes to Michael uncomfortably.

"Go ahead and say it, Kenny and I went over the subject last night, and he told me everything about Tala and what happened in the car. I'm not upset about it, I can understand from what he said why he reacted like that," Michael spoke.

"What the hell happened in the car?" Kain interrupted. Once again, silence fell in the room, Rei quite hesitant to impart the remaining trickle of information likely to set his boyfriend off completely. Noting the hesitant silence, Kain cleared his throat, the frown deepening. "What happened in the car Rei?"

"It seems that Tala was going to make Kenny respond to him, before he learned about Michael. Kenny seems to think that's not going to stop Tala from continuing to pursue him," Rei answered. "He was a little shook up by it, but he's fine now."

"Did the bastard make him cry?" Kain's eyes shifted from Michael to Rei, a frown curling the corners of his mouth into distaste and anger. Despite all the joking and teasing between him and the brunette, Kain wasn't the type to sit back calmly when Kenny shed a few tears. His whole persona changed entirely on those moments.

"Kain," Rei warned.

"The bastard did make him cry, didn't he?" Kain swore. "Don't tell me to calm down either Rei he has some nerve waltz back into Kenny's life after all the trouble of getting Kenny out of his depression. Kenny has no clue what the hell happened after three years. And you expect me to remain fucking calm? Michael, you're a fucking good one for just standing around so carelessly."

"There's no point in getting angry," Michael stated. "Kenny has made the choice to be with me, and you have to remember there are implications in the situation. It's not like this guy disappeared purposely for three years only to decide now to show up. We may not know what they are, but we have to respect it might be important."

"Besides a fight with Tala isn't going to benefit Kenny or yourself," Rei advised. "More than likely Kenny will be pissed off with you and you'll be making an unwanted enemy."

"On top of that, the last thing I need is for either one of you to be locked up for disturbing the peace," Kenny commented, walking into the living room fully dressed now. Walking into the kitchen, he took the cup out of Michael's hands, sipping the hot coffee. "I'm not going to visit you in jail."

"I wouldn't want you visiting that bastard either," Kain exclaimed.

"To be an accountant major, you're so damn stupid at times," Kenny rolled his eyes, taking another sip of coffee. "Just let it go, it's not Tala's fault for what happened, he didn't know at the time that I was going out with Michael. He has his reasons for everything, it's not like he wanted to make me cry either."

"He's a mother hen, he can't help it," Michael laughed.

"I wish he wasn't sometimes," Kenny sighed, handing the cup back to Michael. "I guess I should get going to see if Tyson's up and moving around. And hope that Ozuma doesn't strangle me the moment he sees me."

"Are you going to be back over here later?" Michael asked, leaning down to kiss Kenny.

"So we can continue where we left off?" Kenny mumbled under the pressure of Michael's lips. "I'll call you once Tyson's home to let you know."

"You know, I don't know what's creepier, seeing you two hearing you two act like a couple, or having to watch you two," Kain interrupted. "Now can we have less tongue and more walking to the front door?"

"I think that's a complaint," Michael smirked, continuing to kiss Kenny.

"When isn't he complaining? First complaints about not acting like a couple, now complaints about us being a couple. He just can't make up his mind over anything," Kenny shook his head, pulling away when Kain cleared his throat. "I should get going he'll kill his throat otherwise and resort to glares to the back of my head."

"Fine, I'll see you later tonight then," Michael grinned.

_**-oooo-**_

"What do you mean you didn't bring all this up when we were together?" Kenny exclaimed to his blue haired cousin on the other end of the line. It was now late afternoon, and Kenny had parted Tyson's company no more than twenty minutes ago, to find the bluenette chiming him.

When Kenny, Rei, and Kain were on the way into the hospital, Tyson was on his way out with Ozuma, the green eyed teen fussing over Tyson taking it easy when they got to Tyson's house. Of course, Tyson managed to get Ozuma to take him out for lunch since he claimed hospital food was inedible. The trio tagged along, not mentioning anything that happened the previous night, talk of school and such carrying on until everyone parted three hours later once Tyson was home safely.

"It's exactly like it sounds," Tyson said. "Did you really have to freak me out by turning your phone off like that? The only reason I didn't bring it up when we were together is because Kain looked agitated, and if I had said something…I have a feeling he might have snapped."

"You have a point," Kenny heaved a sigh. "That idiot certainly is a bundle of pissed off nerves right now."

"So, what happened after you left? You know that Kai and Tala came by the hospital while you were wherever you were. Where the hell was you anyway?" Tyson probed.

"Michael's place, I needed to talk to him about Tala," Kenny answered.

"Well, at least I know that when I told Tala this morning he ran you into Michael's arms and he left pissed off, I hit the nail on the head. Did he really come on to you last night when he took you home? Tala told me that—"

"Yeah, we did sort of make out in the front seat of the car," Kenny answered. "But I told him about Michael. You know how Tala gets. After I got out, I called Michael to ask him if I could spend the night so we could talk."

"What does Michael have to say about everything you told him? When I spoke with Ozuma, he's okay about it, so I don't have to worry."

Kenny flopped down on the edge of his bed, falling back to look up at the ceiling. "It's pretty much the same. I told him about Tala, about what happened three years ago, and he accepts everything wholly."

"Plan to stay with him, or go back to Tala?" Tyson wondered. "Though I doubt either of those two will quit until they get what they want. Kai already told Ozuma he's not giving me up so easily."

"Yeah, I had a feeling about that. But I plan to stay with Michael," Kenny smiled. "I like him too much to let him go now. And besides, if the sex is always as good as it was last night, then the rest of you won't be seeing me for some time." Kenny took the phone away from his ear just as a loud gasp slipped out of Tyson, followed up by a long string of earsplitting questions. Tyson was winded two minutes later, which signaled Kenny to put the phone back to his ear. "Done yet?"

"When were you planning to tell me this?" Tyson exclaimed.

"Well," Kenny started as his door was knocked on before opened. His eyes widened finding Tala standing in his doorway. "Hey Ty, let me call you back later, I have a visitor."

"No! You have to tell me what happened!" Tyson cried.

"Later, I promise, now go bother Ozuma until I call you back later." Not giving his cousin time to reply, Kenny hung up the phone, sitting up on the bed. Tala walked into the room, closing the door behind him. "Tala, what are you doing here?"

"Your mother let me in, she told me to tell you she was going next door to ask Mrs. Richards for a recipe and if you need anything to call over there. I was in the neighborhood walking around so I came to visit. Were you busy?" Tala indicated to the phone in Kenny's hand.

"It was just Tyson," Kenny shook his head.

"Did that idiot have anything interesting to say?" Tala asked, taking a seat in the chair by the desk. Kenny was amazed the red head was so calm after their time in the car last night. Then again, this was Tala he was talking about; the older had learned long ago to shift between transitions of interest to indifference at the drop of a pin.

"Not really, I heard you and Kai were at the hospital this morning. Kai went to see how he was doing?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, said something to that idiot's boyfriend," Tala shrugged. "It's surprising he got anyone to like him after my cousin."

"You never change, do you? After all this time, you still love to irritate Tyson," Kenny laughed. "So, where's Kai, I see you don't have him in tow."

"Are you asking because you're afraid I'm going to try something like what happened in the car last night?" Tala wondered. "If you really want to know, he's out looking around to see if anyone's hiring. If we plan to stay here, we do need jobs to pay the bills and eat."

"Were you looking around over here and he was looking around elsewhere?" Kenny remained neutral in his answer, seeing pieces of the shell fall into place around Tala. He could ignore the biting sarcasm it was just an act to keep Tala from feeling emotions his heart hated so much at times.

"Maybe I was," Tala muttered. "Should I be out with Kai looking? Is that what you really want to say?"

"No, I don't," Kenny replied.

"Then why the hell are you asking those questions? Nervous about being in a room alone with me, are you embarrassed because last night you wanted me, then when you realized that you would have loved every moment of being with me again, you ran to your boyfriend to push me away so you wouldn't feel guilty about dumping him?" Tala snapped, his eyes turning frigid.

"It's not like that at all," Kenny sighed.

"Oh it isn't? Then what is it? Didn't want to admit that I turned you on, that you wanted me to fuck you again? Tell me the truth Kenny, admit that you wanted everything I was willing to give you, everything you never wanted from your boyfriend, but you were too scared to ask me for it because you didn't want to hurt your so called boyfriend's feelings," Tala said hotly.

"You want to know the truth Tala, fine," Kenny said evenly, meeting Tala's stare. "Yes, I wanted you. Yes, I didn't want to hurt Michael's feelings. Yes, I might have been scared to give in. Are you happy now?"

"Did you tell him?" Tala asked.

"About me and you in the front seat of your car, yes I told him everything. I told him about what we had before I went out with him. He accepts it all, Tala. He gave me the option of coming back to you also. He would have let me go, as long as I was happy. But I didn't break up with him. In fact, I plan to stay with him, because I do care about him regardless of what you think. I want to get to know him, to see if I love him as much as he cares about me, or if I'm just trying to use him to push you away because I'm afraid," Kenny announced.

Tala was silent, getting up from the chair he just took, turning his eyes away from Kenny, a fire burning deep in those now dark blue eyes. "I see, so you've made your choice. I hope you have a happy life. I have to go find a job now."

"But Tala," Kenny said softly. "I don't want to lose you."

"You have a boyfriend, you can't have us both," Tala muttered.

"I know, but I don't want you disappearing from my life again. It hurt so much before to…" Lowering his head, Kenny's throat closed, the prospect of tears trying to break through. "It was bound to happen when you didn't contact me. I was tried of hurting, of clinging on to the past. Can't you understand how much hell it was?"

Tala turned his eyes to Kenny, seeing the trickle of tears fall into the brunette's lap. Tremors shook the smaller frame. Anger slipped away, Tala walking over to Kenny, kneeling down in front of the brunette and lifting his head up. Leaning in, he kissed away the tears. "Stop crying…you know I hate it. You know I hate it more that another man is in your life too. You don't want me to leave, but do you know what it's doing to my soul?"

"Forgive me…" Kenny mumbled.

"He can't make me leave your side…just know that. But I can't be so near you while he's with you. If you want me to stay…I will do it," Tala murmured. "I just won't be satisfied with a friendship for too long, you know how impatient I am. Figure out how you feel and come back to me."

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: And that's the end of the chapter. Well, what do you think? Perfect way to end the chapter or not, tell me what you think and get back to me. And thanks again for the review Kegom!


	14. Chapter 14

Rim: All right, now everyone can stop threatening me, and asking me when I'm going to update. I'm updating as fast as I can, seeing as how I do work during daytime hours and all and a few nights. I guess I don't mind threatening, it motives me. So, everyone liked the last chapter, thank you, and I hope this next chapter is up to everyone's standards, now onwards.

_**-oooooo-**_

Kenny looked up from where he was laying on the bed with his laptop to stare down the hallway of Michael's apartment. Tilting his head to the side, he could see the red head's shadow silhouetting off the floor of the living room while Michael was fixing them both some dinner. Swinging his feet in the air, he propped his head up on his open palms, thinking about earlier that day.

"I wasn't expecting him to just…" Kenny shook his head, his thoughts in quite a jumble from when he was still at his house and Tala came by to see him.

Closing his eyes, Kenny summoned up the image of Tala in his head once more. He thought back to the events that took place in the room. The words they each had said, and then the decision that was made. Stroking his left thumb over his cheek, he could still feel Tala's warm lips, kissing away the tears which streaked down his face. He could still hear Tala whispering to him.

"_You know I hate it more that another man is in your life too. You don't want me to leave, but do you know what it's doing to my soul?"_

Sometimes Kenny didn't know what was on the other's mind let alone what was in his soul. So many years of abuse and neglect shadowed it all. Kenny opened his eyes, looking at the half filled page on the computer screen. His eyes went over the last few words that were typed, pausing on the last sentence. "Travis turned his eyes away from Kent, the younger of the two dared not to approach the now fuming man who…"

With a groan, Kenny moved his right hand from under his chin, using his index finger to hit the delete button. Watching the cursor blur backwards, taking the words with it, Kenny flopped onto his back staring up at the ceiling once he was finished deleting the paragraph he recently typed. The words in his head didn't stop coming, in fact they continued to flow, repeating in an unconscious stream of words.

"_He can't make me leave your side…just know that. But I can't be so near you while he's with you. If you want me to stay…I will do it. I just won't be satisfied with a friendship for too long, you know how impatient I am. Figure out how you feel and come back to me."_

"It's not really that easy Tala," Kenny sighed to the ceiling. "I don't think you really understand what I meant when I said I wanted to be with Michael did you? Did you think that I only meant for maybe a month?"

The way Tala had stared at him when he left, it was like he was expecting the other to make up his mind within the next few days or week. As if this was just a phase that would pass by soon and whatever feelings for Michael would fade in the next month. Tala wanted it that simple, those words gave the red head comfort, but eventually, when Kenny didn't come back, when Kenny fell deeper in love with Michael, he would come back for him.

"It would be nice if I could get the two of them to meet, maybe get to know each other. At least Tala seems like he isn't going to try to start trouble if they meet, then again, this is Tala I'm talking about," Kenny sighed, continuing to stare up at the ceiling, just as his cell phone rung. Reaching to his right, he grabbed the object, cutting it on and placing it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey you," Tyson's voice came through. "Do you know what time it currently is?"

"Well, the last time I checked Ty, it's a quarter to nine, is there significance in you calling to ask me the time?" Kenny questioned, tilting his head towards the alarm clock on the nightstand which was displaying vibrant blue numbers.

"Of course there is some significance towards me saying that you idiot," Tyson chimed. "Do you remember what you were supposed to be doing?"

"What do you mean what I was suppose to be doing?" Kenny frowned. "I was supposed to be doing a lot of things, please refresh my short term memory, it's currently short circuiting." Which in fact wasn't all a lie, he had so much on his mind that if his mother were to tell him that today was the day he was born, he would question her later on why she gave his a gift.

"You were supposed to be calling me back remember," Tyson reminded.

"Hell…sorry Tyson," Kenny apologized. "Tala came over and I had to talk to him, then Robert called me and we were on the phone for a while, then was getting together my material for classes tomorrow, and then I called Michael and he picked me up and then I've been sitting on his bed for nearly two and a half hours trying to finish this chapter of my book. It slipped my mind completely."

"Okay, we're just going to rewind that to the beginning. So, Tala came over to your house after that crap he pulled with trying to fuck you in the front seat of his car. That bastard is cocky, isn't he? So, what did he think, you were just going to strip for him and everything would be all right once he's making you scream out his name over and over again," Tyson said, his tone hardening with anger.

"It was nothing like that at all," Kenny assured.

"Good, because you just made me say something I'm going to have nightmares about forever." Kenny smiled, listening to his cousin gag on the other end of the phone line. "So, what did that baboon want?"

"Well, he was just telling me that he and Kai were out looking for jobs and he was around," Kenny replied.

"And?" Tyson stated. "_This_ is Tala we're talking about, remember. Tala doesn't do anything without a reason."

"True…" Kenny nodded to himself.

"So?" Tyson wondered.

"It was more so he was looking for me to want to strip for him so he could make me scream his name over and over again and then I dump Michael because I knew I really wanted to be with Tala and was just using Michael as an excuse to hide from him. And then once I admitted just how hot and bothered I was being near him, we would live happily ever after."

"For one, thank you for that mental image of you stripping for him and then him screwing you," Tyson gagged. "I'll be lucky to stare at him now without gouging my eyes out."

"You'll be fine," Kenny smiled.

"No I won't. Now I'm going to be sick every time I think about…" Tyson continued gagging for a minute. "All right, I'm finished. So, what did you do?"

"What do you mean what did I do?" Kenny frowned.

"What did you tell him?" Tyson remarked. "You know, like did you say go to hell, I'm with this guy now, or what?" Kenny imagined that Tyson was on the edge of his bed, waiting for him to reply. Maybe he should have a little fun with his cousin to see what would happen, and if his theory was true.

"Do you really want to know what I told Tala?" Kenny questioned. "Well…first I told him to take a seat, then I stared him straight in the eyes…and then I told him that if he stuck it in my mouth, I could suck him off while Michael had me from behind."

"You what!" Tyson screeched on the other end of the phone before there was a loud crash and a groan. Holding the phone away from his ear to laugh, he could hear Tyson muttering a bunch of curses, and threats on the other end. Sitting up, Kenny wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "Kenny, are you listening to me, if you told him that I'm so going to kill you when I get my hands on you that Michael is going to have to hunt me down for burying your body—"

"Calm down, I was just joking, you don't have to try to kill me and bury my body in the back of anywhere," Kenny chuckled. "I just wanted to see what you would do if I said that."

"You're evil," Tyson shouted into the phone.

"I'm sorry, calm down," Kenny snickered.

"Come on, tell me the truth, what did you really tell Tala," Tyson asked.

"The truth—"

"And if you say that you told him you could have a threesome, then I'm going to come over there and kill you," Tyson threatened.

"Damn…well, I guess I got to lie to you then. I told Tala that it was true I did want him when we were in the front seat of the car, and that I told Michael everything about what happened and what happened back in Tennessee," Kenny said.

"What did Michael say about it?" Tyson questioned.

"Well, he accepted everything that happened between me and Tala three years ago. I told Tala that I planned to be with Michael because I want to know if I really am just using him to get over Tala, or if I really love him. I think Tala accepts it, he told me that he would stay here and he wouldn't disappear, but he wants me to hurry up and figure out how I feel so he can be with me," Kenny answered, tilting his head to the side to watch the shadow on the floor of the living room continue to move. The occasional sounds of water or a metal spoon being tapped against the side of a pot could be heard.

"So, next question," Tyson said, Kenny could hear the grin spreading across each corner of his cousin's face. The brunette had a feeling that it was coming, after all, he told the very two people in his life that would want to know all the details about what happened between him and Michael: Tyson and of course Kain.

Kain had already started in on Kenny after leaving Ozuma and Tyson's company. Kenny having to hear a barrage of questions ranging from whether he could walk or if Michael was to rough or was he big enough for Kenny. Luckily, Rei managed to get the bluenette to shut up before he could embarrass Kenny any further. Of course, the brunette still had to answer some of the questions, and deal with the toothy grins and jokes about Kenny not complaining now if he and Rei were late all the times because he would be too busy to care if they were late.

"Don't tell me, it's about me and Michael isn't it?" Kenny questioned with a sigh. "Kain spent nearly ten minutes burning a hole into my skull with nearly every question under the sun over my fun last night."

"So, did you have a good time or not?" Tyson inquired.

"Didn't I tell you the sex was good?" Kenny shook his head.

"You may have said the sex was good, but you didn't say how fantastic. So, was it everything you thought it would be, or more?"

"Let's just say that all five of those orgasms could signify that it was more than I thought it would be. Of course…it has been like three years since I had any, so maybe I'm just exaggerating about it," Kenny thought. "And no Tyson, before you ask, I'm not giving you a play by play of everything that we did."

"I wasn't about to ask," Tyson said.

"Good, at least you're sparing me that indecency that Kain wouldn't," Kenny stated. "I don't think I will ever tell him again about being screwed if I ever go on a drought again. You would think that he got off on the details or something."

"I don't want to think about that ever, that is just about as disturbing as it gets for me," Tyson retched.

"I am in complete agreement," Kenny voiced.

"As long as Tala never finds out about this, we won't have to stop bloodshed over that jealous idiot. But seriously I'm surprised," Tyson said.

"Why?" Kenny inquired.

"Well, I was expecting Tala to try to find out where Michael lived and forced Michael to back off so you would be all his once again," Tyson commented. "I guess that the idiot has learned something in the past three years wherever they've been." Silence fell between the two cousins for a long minute, their thoughts taking different routes than before.

"Tyson," Kenny finally said breaking the silence. His head was turned towards the window, looking out at the night sky. "Where do you think…they've been for the past three years? The look in their eyes…it was haunted…I couldn't bear to ask them a thing about it."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Tyson sighed. "I guess that when they are ready, they will tell us about it. Or…we'll just stumble across it when they don't want it and then they'll end up being stubborn about it before breaking down and telling us. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, it seems to be like that sometimes, but I can understand, the life they lived…they've grown up keeping things between themselves. So, now that we're in their lives, it's much harder to stick to who they use to be and still want to be with us because they know that we would never betray them," Tyson said softly.

"But…kind of irony now," Kenny chuckled. "In a way, we have betrayed them unintentionally. Do you still think that they will try so hard to change with what's happened to them over the past three years and then learning we've moved on like that?"

"I don't know," Tyson exhaled. "I guess that there's no way to really tell until we try to keep our lives together. I know Kai's not going to give me up so easily, but I don't know if he's going to be as patient as Tala with me."

"It's because he's loved you longer. You two practically grew up together, he's had time to watch you grow and mature, his love for you has also grown and matured, kept close to his heart until you acknowledged that you wanted to be with him. So, it's understandable if he's not so patient. He's waited for you so long and now you're with another man, that he's bound to be a little bit more impatient with you," Kenny said sagely, hearing his cousin groan on the other end.

"I know, I know. You know, I'm not sure which of us has the better end of the stick. Kai's loved me longer and Tala's just crazy, that just makes for a fine addition to your story don't you think?" Tyson teased. "So, how is it going anyway?"

"Crap," Kenny remarked. "I know what I have to write, but I don't have any idea how to go about it at all. My thoughts are so jumbled with everything going on."

"Take a break, it's not like you have a deadline," Tyson suggested. "Maybe get away from the city for a few days to gather your thoughts or something."

"Well, Michael was talking about his uncle having a cabin and going there next weekend so I can do a little bit of writing while he keeps in practice with baseball. But I don't know if I should go after everything that's happened," Kenny replied.

"I say go, you need time to straight out your head with everything that's happened recently. It's the perfect opportunity to get to know Michael more, and to discover how you really feel about him," Tyson pointed out. "If Ozuma said he had a little hideaway for just me and him, I would definitely go to clear out my head."

"But you and Ozuma have for one been together longer, and secondly, you really like Ozuma a lot," Kenny stated.

"And you like Michael a lot too," Tyson countered. "I mean, if Tala doesn't like it, well…that's sort of tough, he has to realize that he left you to think he was dead for like three years without so much as a word, and then you finally find love again, he springs up out of the woodwork expecting you to live happily ever after with him. True, it would have been nice to do so, but things didn't turn out that way. We have to accept what we were given and move on. If it's meant to be, then we will walk that road once more."

"For once, you're sounding smart," Kenny joked. "Michael would definitely be shocked to hear that come out of your mouth."

"Shut up," Tyson growled. "Anyway, I say you should just forget about Tala for now and enjoy yourself for the weekend with Michael. Then worry about Tala when you get back, if his head explodes before then, oh well, he will be fine."

"Since you put it that way, fine," Kenny laughed, hearing his laptop closing down. Turning his head back towards it, he found Michael standing by the bed with a plate of chicken fettuccine. Blue eyes looked down at him with a funny look before closing the laptop with his free hand and placing it over on the desk. Once that task was done, Michael walked back over to the bed, climbing on it carefully. Kenny leaned back into Michael's embrace once the other was situated.

"Is Tyson being a pest?" Michael grinned, down at the brunette in his embrace. Kenny looked up at his boyfriend with a smile before opening his mouth. "What? Do you want something?"

"Hey Tyson," Kenny said, giving Michael a slight stare. "We will finish this discussion later I'm trying to be fed."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Tyson teased. "I'll talk to you tomorrow at school then."

"Bye." Kenny hung up the phone, putting it beside him, and tilted his head back up to Michael, opening his mouth once more.

"You might want to close your mouth before I stick something in there," Michael suggested.

"That's the point of me having it open," Kenny replied, seeing Michael get a mischievous look in his eyes. "Food now, sex later, I'm hungry and I don't want to have to heat that up later. So put food in mouth now."

"Demanding, I like that," Michael beamed, scooping up a forkful of fettuccine and blowing it off. Once the food was cool enough, Michael lowered the fork into Kenny's mouth, watching as Kenny's mouth wrapped around the fork, pulling back once the food was in his mouth. Subconsciously, he licked his mouth, his mind wandering away from him just a little bit, or just enough that eventually he found his boyfriend staring up at him with a pout.

"Michael, didn't I say later, I'm hungry," Kenny complained, feeling the awakening arousal brushing against his backside.

"Well, if you didn't look so sexy eating, maybe I wouldn't get so horny around you," Michael said huskily, leaning down to plant a kiss against Kenny's neck. "It doesn't help either that you're sitting in my lap where one of my t-shirts which you do look irresistible in, might I add."

"Michael, I want to eat," Kenny whined.

"You'll eat," Michael assured, continuing his path down Kenny's neck.

"Now!" Kenny voiced. "Or I'm not going to give you any for the rest of the week."

"Fine," Michael sighed with defeat, pulling back. "Wait…does this mean that you're going to be staying with me the rest of the week?"

"Maybe," Kenny said sweetly.

"You're going to torment me until you're ready to tell me, aren't you?" Michael questioned.

"Well," Kenny trailed off, before opening his mouth and waiting for more food.

"You know you're wrong for that," Michael said, sticking another forkful of pasta into his boyfriend's mouth, and watching as Kenny purposefully refused to let go of the fork before moaning just a little. "You are testing my patience and willpower, you know that don't you?" Kenny only nodded, finally letting the fork go as he chewed the food in his mouth.

"You know you love it more than I'm enjoying teasing you," Kenny said, once he was finished eating. "Besides, when we go to your uncle's cabin next weekend, what do you think I'm going to be doing when I want you to pay more attention to me than your practicing?"

"You still want to go? Even after Tala and everything happening?" Michael looked down at the brunette in his arms who stared up at him smiling. Watching the brunette, Michael found Kenny take the plate out of his hands, setting it on the nightstand, then straddling Michael's lap with his legs wrapped around his boyfriend's waist.

"Yes, I still want to go, Tyson said it would be a good time to get to know each other better," Kenny nodded. "So, are you still up to seducing me while we're there?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Michael murmured, leaning down to lick at the full mouth which was tempting him. "Seduce you now, later, and when we get there."

"Who says I wanted to be seduced now?" Kenny grinned, pulling back from the mouth that wanted entrance. "I'm still hungry you know."

"You little tease…"

"What was that Michael?" Kenny said grinding his hips into Michael's receiving a moan out of his boyfriend.

"Fine…you win," Michael sighed. "Now can I please have you now?"

"Well…" Kenny thought for a long second, making sure to purposefully squirm in Michael's lap as the red head moaned softly. "Maybe later, I'm still hungry." Kenny climbed out of Michael's lap, hearing the disappointed whine escape his boyfriend's lips while he picked the plate back up from where it was set and began eating, watching as Michael gave him a pleading look.

"You are wrong for this you know that, don't you?" Michael grumbled, getting up from off the bed, dragging his feet as he walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Kenny grinned.

"Bathroom."

"You know I love you," Kenny replied, only receiving something that was close to sometimes he wondered. "When I'm finished eating, I'll play with you in 30 minutes that sound fair to you." This time, he received a huffed no before the red head shut the door to the bathroom. After a minute or two, water could be heard running in the shower. With a triumphant grin, Kenny continued eating, thinking about how he was going to make it up to his boyfriend. "I suppose…Tyson is right. It's going to be interesting to see how this turns out."

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: Okay…I'm done…nobody bother me for two weeks now. That's it I've just killed my brain cells! Now I gotta go to sleep cause I'm going to hallucinate and stuff. Okay, review and stuff and Chaco…please stop throwing your brother's stuff at me, see I updated like I promised…late, but I did update!


	15. Chapter 15

Rim: I know, I'm a bad person not updating, but hey…just think I could quit posting all together…wait…no I couldn't, I would be hunted down and made to finish the stories now wouldn't I? Hopefully maybe I will get better at updating again and then we won't have to hunt me down. Well, here's the next chapter finally after a long period of insanity and threats of quitting.

_**-oooooo-**_

Tala glared at his cousin as he shoved his hands more in his pockets as he walked along the salted sidewalks, occasionally his feet felt slick under him from some of the stubborn ice which had refused to melt. His breath came out in plumes, rising into the air before disbanding into invisible vapors.

There was the sporadic breeze of cold air that would whip up around them then settle every now and then. Tala didn't know how he got his cousin to talk him into walking from place to place…again! The first time Tala agreed was to clear his head of things with Kenny, now it had been more than a week since his encounter with the brunette he loved, and they were still walking around.

"Hey," Tala said, breaking the silence as they turned the corner to another street. Kai remained silent, not even bothering to look back at the red head which addressed him. Tala's mouth curled into a frown, speeding up his pace just a little to match steps with his cousin. "I said hey."

"Hey," Kai replied, still staring up at the clear blue sky and the cloud that was floating by.

"Why are we walking?" Tala questioned.

Kai said nothing, continuing to walk. Tala felt the frown decrease even more in the corners of his mouth. Repressing the urge to kick the other in the head, Tala let it go while pulling out a cigarette from the pack in his back pocket along with his lighter. Sticking the cigarette in his mouth, Tala flicked the lighter until he got a flame once he flipped the lighter open, then rose the orange and yellow light to the paper, inhaling a few times until the tip glowed. Flipping his lighter closed, Tala stuck it back in his back pocket and drawled from the cigarette.

"Saves gas," Kai replied.

"I'm surprised you answered," Tala said, taking the cigarette out of his mouth to exhale the smoke. "But if you wanted to save gas so much, we could have took the bus and not be out here freezing our asses off."

"Saves money."

"Well we wouldn't be freezing our asses off walking out here," Tala muttered. "Besides we're just walking around aimlessly."

"You never know when opportunity is going to strike," Kai replied.

"Oh yeah, well unless there's someone that's going to run down the street with a suitcase full of hundreds and say that he's a millionaire who wants to be homeless and he wants to give all his money to the first people he encounter, then I don't see the point of walking around out here in the cold," Tala grumbled.

"You're impatient," Kai sighed.

"I'm not impatient I'm freezing my ass off." Tala accented the last few words with an emphasis to the conditions in which they were walking.

"It's not like we're out in a blizzard," Kai countered.

"We might as well be," Tala shot back.

"Stop being such queen, you ass," Kai replied.

"Fuck you," Tala muttered. "I don't know who you think you're calling a queen you fucking fag."

"I've fuck girls too, dear cousin, and very much enjoyed the experience," Kai said, tilting his head to the side to bat his eyes at the other. Tala rolled his eyes, finding the light smile in the corner of Kai's mouth. "And let's not forget, my first time was with a girl, your first was with a forty-three year old guy and his wife walked in on him screwing you into the kitchen table, wasn't it?"

"Let's not forget that I wouldn't be in that situation if a certain someone hadn't left me sitting there with the guy and wandered off to chase some bitch's skirt," Tala responded.

"How is it my fault?" Kai grinned, plucking the cigarette from his cousin's lips and taking a drawl from it. "You were fifteen you didn't need me to tell you what to do. As you always put it back then, you weren't a fucking kid and could make your own decisions about whatever the fuck you wanted to do."

"Bastard, if you hadn't left, I wouldn't have sat there with the asshole drinking shot after shot of Gin before agreeing to go home with him because I'm too drunk to know up from down and coming around to my head drenched in cold water and a cup of hot tea handed to me as the guy's wife explained why I was sitting on her kitchen table naked and her husband was on the floor unconscious," Tala growled.

"Poor lady, shame she had to come home to your moaning and panting," Kai said, ducking the hand which was targeting his head. "Hey, no one told you to stay there when I left. You could have always went back home any time you wanted."

"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother hanging with you."

"Because I know you better than just about anyone else in the world," Kai simpered. Tala sighed, shaking his head without saying anything towards the remark. Because it was true and there was no way around it. "So, how about we go back to searching for that job of opportunity?"

"Since we're already out here," Tala said in a bored manner, hearing his cousin chuckle.

"Looks like opportunity has struck," Kai grinned a minute later, his eyes focusing on a couple that was arguing with two men on the side of the road as all four of them stood around a two door light blue Ford Explorer. The hood of the car was up as a thin wisp of black smoke curled up from inside the engine. A dark green Mercury was parked behind the Explorer.

"I'd rather not get involved with that," Tala said, once he assessed the situation. "I say we let them work it out on their own."

"Not so fast my dear cousin, look what it says on the Mercury," Kai nodded his head in the direction of the sign posted on the side of the Mercury. Tala's eyes flickered over the care, seeing a sign about roadside assistance. "They work for an auto mechanic place around here, so are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Tala said nothing as he walked up to the arguing group, followed closely by Kai. None of the four people arguing at first noticed the two newcomers staring at the engine. It was a woman with short tousled black hair which took notice of the two boys glancing into her and her husband's car, while her husband continued to arguing with the mechanics over what was wrong with their car.

"What are you two doing?" The woman turned her full attention to the boys, placing her hands on her hips, her brows sinking further towards her eyes. "Get away from that car and get out of here."

"Do you want your car fixed or do you want to stand there all day freezing your ass off arguing with two idiots who don't know a thing about fixing anything?" Tala said, leaning into the car more. "Do you have a flashlight or something that I can look in here with?"

"What was that?" One of the guys, a young man with short sandy blonde hair colored with strands of dark brown hair glared at the red head looking into the hood of the car. The older man with him only stared with neutral eyes. "Who do you think you're calling idiots?"

"Obviously you," Kai said. "If you're standing here arguing with the customer, that says something about your ability to do your job, hence you're an idiot. Now do you have a flashlight, we're going to fix their car."

"There's no way you can fix their car on the side of the road, it needs to be towed into our shop so we can fix it properly," the blonde said, his face beginning to show red with anger.

"Or so you say, I'll make a bet with you, if we can fix their car on the side of the road with the tools you have, then we take your job and they aren't charged a penny for the work. But if we can't, we'll pay for these people to have their car fixed. How does that sound?" Kai smirked, causing another shade of color to flare on the blonde's cheeks.

"Why you—"

"Deal," the older man said, finally stepping in to speak.

"Boss, you aren't serious about letting these kids do our job are you?" the blonde questioned, watching as the older man walked back to their car and retrieved tools from the trunk of the car.

"I am," the man nodded, handing a wrench, flashlight, and other tools to the two young men that were insisting they could fix the car without it being towed into a shop. "I like their attitudes, reminds me of when I was younger and I thought I could fix everything under the sun without anyone's assistance. I'm going to let them try and see whether or not they can do it."

"I'm with the boy, you really aren't going to let these inexperience kids try and fix our car?" the woman's husband protested. "We have to be to a wedding in two hours, we don't have time to let some kids tinker around under our hood."

"I'll pay for any damage that they cause," the older man said, waving off the beginnings of another argument. "Besides, they seem to know what they are doing from the way they're talking otherwise they wouldn't have stopped and been so cocky to make such an offer."

"So you accept? Good," Kai grinned as he took off his jacket and slid under the car while Tala tossed his coat to the side, taking the flashlight and shining it into the engine. "Tala, shine the light a little more to the left."

"How's that?" Tala questioned, moving the light.

"Good," Kai said. "We should have this car fixed in about half an hour, why don't you folks take a walk around the block or something then come back."

"We aren't going anywhere, we are going to make sure that you don't do anything to our car or we will—" the woman started, not believing that she and her husband were allowing a bunch of kids to work on their car, that cost them over a thousand dollars to have built into a custom model. She was going to make sure that nothing happened to it, but then again, why was she allowing this to occur in the first place. The damn mechanics were no good, so what made her think that these boys were going to do anything better than the professionals.

"Mind shutting up," Tala interrupted, glaring at the woman whose mouth was gaped open with shock at the way he spoke to her.

"Do you know who I am!" the woman reprimanded. Tala stared at her for a long second with a raised brow waiting to hear who exactly she was suppose to be except a loud bitch who didn't want to get where she was going if she didn't shut her mouth. The woman glared at him, offended he was giving her one of _those_ looks. "Well, do you know who I am?"

"No," Tala said. "And frankly I don't care who you are. So why don't you shut up and let us work. If you have so much energy to talk and shit, take a walk and blow it off, I don't feel like hearing you speak."

"Tala, move the light over to the right, I think I see what the problem is," Kai said, redirecting the red head's attention to the job. Kai's eyes settled on a pair of cords which were lounged between two belts. "Tala, I need you to reach your hand down between the two belts that I'm waving my hand near and pull at those two cords."

"I won't be able to pull those cords free until you move the belt from around the fan right here," Tala said, shining the light to another area. "You see how it's pressing against the belts?"

"Yeah, I got it." Kai reached up, while Tala was reaching down, as they continued working in peace. Thankfully the harridan decided to shut up and let them work, and the useless boy wasn't protesting to his boss anymore. The woman's husband though was staring intently at Tala, as if at any given moment, he was going to hop in the driver's seat and drive off. Eventually, twenty minutes of working on the car, Kai pulled himself from under the car with a pair of black tubes.

"What did you just take out of our car!" the woman shouted ready to let them hear an earful before she found fiery eyes glaring at her.

"They were about ready to ruin your car," Kai voiced as he stood up from the ground. "The next time you try to customize your car, know what the fuck their putting in it. These weren't needed."

"Nice car, but there's a boatload of shit in there that's not needed," Tala said, putting down the hood of the car and pushing his hair out of his face. "We're all done, now why don't you crank this baby up and drive off and be lucky that we came through or you would have been spending a hell of a lot of money for a twenty minute job."

"We'll see…" the man said, pulling out the car keys and rounding the car to the driver's side. Opening the door and slipping inside, the man put the key into the ignition and cranked the car up. The engine immediately came to life, no sign of any of the problems without first stopped them were visible, in fact, the car sounded like an entirely different vehicle than they set out in.

"Well, I guess you boys have earned yourselves a job," the older man grinned, stepping over to Tala and Kai with his hand extended. "The name's Barnard Jackson, I own an auto shop downtown. I'm always looking for kids with a good eye and steady hands. Welcome to the family, this is my protégé, Kyle Thompson."

"Boss…you aren't really going to give them jobs are you?" the recently named Kyle replied, crossing his arms over one another and giving the two boys leveled stares. Kyle's boss, Barnard chuckled, placing a hand on Kyle's shoulder with a pat.

"I think they'll be good to have around, and I think you could learn something from our two new employees. How about we get ourselves acquainted?"

"The name's Kai Hiwatari," Kai said.

"And I'm his cousin, Tala Ivanov," Tala replied.

"Well, it's going to be nice working with you boys. Welcome to the staff."

_**-oooo-**_

Kenny sat down two cups—one filled with a double shot of espresso while the other cup held vanilla cappuccino—down on the table where Robert and Oliver were conversing at. Both pairs of eyes stared up at him, the conversation stopping momentarily as he sat down at the table to look at them both.

"Hey, don't stop talking on account of my presence. Just pretend I'm not here."

"You've heard the expression it's easier said than done, correct?" Oliver smiled, mischief shining in his amethyst eyes.

"What are you trying to say Oliver?" Kenny said.

"Nothing Kenneth," Oliver said, watching the brunette flinch at the sound of his full name before lightly glaring at the one who said it. "Is there something wrong my friend?"

"You're going to stop doing that or I may find a need to extinguish your life sooner than you had hoped it to end," Kenny voiced, leaning back in his chair.

"You would not dare to lay a hand on me," Oliver stated.

"And why wouldn't I?" Kenny questioned.

"I just know you wouldn't" Oliver smiled. Kenny turned to Robert who was silently drinking his cappuccino, watching the playful banter volleyed between his friends. A smile was tucked away in the corners of his mouth as he placed down the cup.

"Are you finding us entertaining enough, mister Jurgen?"

"Of course, mister Shinoda," Robert spoke, the smile stretching further across his lips. "I am never bored around you."

"Oh great," Kenny rolled his eyes. "You come down here for the weekend just to entertain yourself on me as if I were a clown at the circus. Next time Ringling Brothers is in town, I'll audition for a position."

"Will that ensure that we get in for free then?" Oliver joked, finding blue eyes on him in a playful scowl. "That look suggests I don't inquest any free tickets anymore than."

"Oh you're both so funny," Kenny commented. "I don't know why I hang around either of you if all you will ever do is tease me when around. I'm better off taking my chances with Kain and all his jokes towards my relationship with Michael."

"How are things going with you and your boyfriend anyway?" Robert inquired.

"Quiet for now," Kenny sighed, thinking about his recent rollercoaster involving himself, Michael, and Tala.

He still didn't know what exactly he was going to do about Tala when the time came where he wouldn't be satisfied with just staying by Kenny's side. Tala was going to grow impatient and come after him again. Kenny knew Tala well enough to realize that when that time came, he wasn't going to care there was someone else in Kenny's life who loved him just as much as Tala did. If it were possible to get Tala in the same room as Michael with Tala pissing Michael off, Kenny would sit them both down and try to get them to be friends.

Seeing the sour disposition which suddenly befell the brunette, Oliver worried that something between him and the red head was not going well. "Is something the matter, Kenny? Did you have a fight with Michael?"

"No, nothing like that," Kenny shook his head. "It's a little bit more complicated than that. Would be a hell of a lot easier had it been just a fight or disagreement. We would apologize then go back on living."

"Talking about it may sometimes help the situation," Robert advised. "Or give you an idea of how to solve it."

"I wish it was that simple too," Kenny groaned, propping his head up on his palms, his elbows resting on the table. "Not unless you can clone me so I don't have to choose between two people I love yet know when it comes down to it, I can only choose one." Staring at his friends, he found puzzled expressions.

"I believe it would be much appreciated if you were to explain when you decided to fall in love again in the time period of nearly a week since I last spoke with you?" Robert spoke.

"A few months ago when I met Michael," Kenny answered, lowering his eyes until he was looking out from behind his lashes.

"An explanation which we can understand," Oliver pleaded, shaking his head.

"Ah," Kenny said, letting the sentence drop momentarily before he picked it back up again. "You want the long angst story. That one started about three years ago during the summer where I first learned about the oleanders. And my heart was stolen by the most incredible person I've ever had the chance to meet."

"Your first love? Why does the story start there?"

"Remember how I told you he died because of his uncle?"

"Yes, I remember that. Tragic a life should end in such a fashion."

"You can stop feeling sorry for the way his life was thought to end," Kenny voiced.

"What do you mean?" Robert frowned, watching Kenny's eyes close wearily.

"He's alive…" Kenny sighed.

"Are you sure?" Oliver blinked.

"As sure as the tears I cried holding onto him when I discovered last weekend his uncle failed in killing him as everyone thought," Kenny nodded.

"But…why let all this time pass without letting you know?" Robert frowned.

"I don't know. Neither he nor Kai, his cousin, has explained to me why, if they were alive all this time, neither got in contact with me or Tyson to let us know. Something happened to them three years ago which they aren't willing to tell about right now. Something that has stuck with them all this time…you could see it in their eyes," Kenny murmured, once more thinking about the haunted, glazed over eyes he peered into when asking them. "So now…I don't know what to do. I told him about Michael…but he's not the type to patiently wait around forever to see if I'm going to come back to him. I know Tala too well…he's going to do something to make me come back to him, I know it."

"Have you talked to Michael over the situation?"

"Yeah, he told me that as long as I was happy, he would let me go if I wanted to be with Tala. He told me that no matter what my decision was, he would not hold a grudge if it came down to me choosing Tala."

"Have you made your decision?" Oliver questioned.

"I love Michael," Kenny announced. "He's helped me through so much, he let me smile again. I can't just say forget him. He's become important in my life. Right now, I want to be with him and see where it leads, but as I said, I know Tala. He's not going to just sit around to wait for me to come back. He's going to make me come back to him whether I'm ready or not."

"Do you think—" Robert started, but Kenny shook his head, knowing what his friend was going to say.

"Tala's not the type to just force me into something that I don't want. But he has an unfair advantage knowing that my feelings for him are still there and playing upon them. I know he will do it if he believes I am keeping him waiting too long. That's the real problem about things."

"He sounds as if he's use to getting his way," Oliver stated.

"Quite the opposite really," Kenny smiled softly. "He's not use to getting his way at all. I'm the first person who he's ever truly opened up to all the way. He doesn't want to lose me, he's afraid if he does…he might never be able to trust again. His heart has been closed off for so long that it's hard for him to love again, especially if he loses me."

"Sounds like you know him like the back of your hand."

"I suppose…I do. That puts me the most at unrest when I think about how he will act if he knows I want to go places with Michael. Next week Michael plans to take me to his uncle's cabin to so I can work on my novel. We were planning to go this weekend, but with everything going on, we postponed it." Kenny shifted his head to the side, watching a small traffic of people enter the store.

Among the herd was Kenny's current subject, azure eyes scanned the entire store in under a minute, somehow locking on to his position at the table. Even at the door, Kenny made out the glimmer associated with jealously play in Tala's blue depths then fade. Possessive he was, but Kenny understood it came with the life he was thrown in. Never having anything truly his alone, then all of a sudden a mishap distances them for three years, only to discover on his return that it seemed everyone was distracting Kenny's attention away from Tala.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," Kenny recited softly, watching Tala make his way towards the table.

"What was that Kenny?" Robert queried.

"Red head walking our way." Kenny stood up from the table, extending his hand in a gesture of introduction when Tala was within hearing distance. "Tala, I want you to meet two of my friends. Oliver goes to the same college as me, and Robert is my friend who lives in Washington."

Tala's eyes flickered over the two then nodded in their directions before focusing his eyes back on Kenny. "It's nice to meet you both. You don't mind if I borrow him for a second?"

"No, of course not, we were just leaving anyway," Robert said, finishing off the rest of his drink before standing up, Oliver following example. "Kenny, the next time I speak with you, I do want you to have some progress down on your story or I shall be tempted to lock you in a room with nothing to do other than type."

"How lovely, you're going to force it out of me," Kenny sighed playfully. "I guess I will have no choice but to work faster since my editor believes I shouldn't have a life away from the computer."

"Worry not, I shall keep Robert from carrying out his threat, lest he wishes for the entire world to know all his most embarrassing secrets," Oliver smiled. Ignoring the way Robert was staring at him Oliver picked up his coat from the back of his chair then pushed his friend towards the exit. "We shall speak with you later Kenny."

Kenny watched Robert protesting about something which Oliver refused to answer all the way out the door. Afterwards he shifted his attention back to Tala who was staring down at him. "So…what's on your mind Tala?" He had to be careful how he worded things. Another thing Kenny knew about the red head was his sensitivity towards words meant under no pretenses.

"Me and Kai found a job," Tala said with a light smile. "We start the end of this week."

"That's great," Kenny said. "So what will you be doing?"

"Mechanic work on cars and stuff. The owner of the place was working on a car today, but me and Kai sort of came along, fixed the car, and impressed our new boss. Sometimes I forget that my cousin has a brain in that head of his. I want you to come next weekend to check the place out and tell me what you think," Tala spoke with a sort of excitement associated with a kid doing something on his own for the first time ever. Kenny felt his heart nearly sink into his stomach staring into Tala's shimmering eyes, but realizing he wouldn't be able to oblige Tala's request to visit the following weekend.

"Sorry Tala…I can't come by next weekend. I'm going out of town the entire weekend and won't be back until early Monday morning," Kenny replied softly. "Michael and I were planning to—"

"Oh," Tala interrupted, shifting his eyes away, the familiar look of distancing himself from things entering his eyes. Kenny resisted the urge to wrap his arms around Tala's waist and hold him until the mask of indifference fell away as it usually did when he was around. "Him again…you'd rather spend time with him than cheering me on at my good fortune at finding a job so fast?"

"You know that's not true," Kenny countered. "This…it was planned before I knew that you were going to pop up so suddenly."

"Excuse me for ruining your plans," Tala said sharply. "Maybe I should have called again to let you know…" Whatever Tala was about to say trailed off, the red head turning away. "Guess I should get going then, there's nothing left to talk about."

"Hold on," Kenny said, grabbing Tala's coat sleeve. A frown developed, staring up at the red head. "What do you mean you should have called again? What do you mean by that?"

"It's just as it sounds. I called you before…when I heard your voice I wasn't able to say a word. When I summoned up enough nerve to speak, you hung up. And I lost my nerve to call you back," Tala responded. "I should have, it would have stopped you from falling in love with that man then…"

"You called and…" Kenny's eyes widened, realizing what the other was saying. "You mean…that night when I got home from work…that…that was…was you…?"

"Yeah, I wanted to tell you I was alive. You changed your old number so I had to call an operator to find out what your new number was. I felt butterflies in my stomach, thinking about hearing your voice. I knew that things would be fine if I heard your voice and that nothing would come between us. But irony is a bitch."

Silence slipped between them as Kenny absorbed the information he had just been given. Lightly pulling out of Kenny's grasp, Tala tilted his head to the side, seeing the shock within Kenny's eyes. Regarding his love with a lingering glance, his eyes roaming over the familiar features, his eyes wanting to grow cold and dull to deal with this, but the very sight before him weakened his resolve. Until he felt he would completely break inside. He had been a fool to think he was going to be able to take this patiently. Yet knowing if he pushed the brunette back towards him, he would only end up losing what he loved the most.

"I really should get going you still have work don't you?" Tala remarked softly.

"Tala…" Kenny sighed.

"I know I'm not going to do anything foolish. I'll stay here…I will…I promise…" Tala said walking away.

"But…can you stay here without breaking?" Kenny wondered to himself.

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: Well…my lazy, crazy ass has finally updated. Next chapter…hmm, I don't know what it's going to be about, or what I'm going to do for it. I'll have to think about it for a long time before I can come up with something. Now let me go start on Sympathy before I hear my friend Chrissy complain about me updating that one.


	16. Chapter 16

Rim: Two months away and now I finally decide to return to my faithful reviewers…okay, the few that I still have. I want to thank everyone for the reviews, and I've thought long and hard to come up with the basis for this chapter, you have no idea how my mind has been blank for the past few weeks on this idea. And I really want to thank Chaco and B.T. for the support in writing. I'm not going to freak myself out and force chapters out of me, I promise. This chapter is for the both of you.

_**------oooooo------**_

Kenny looked outside the window of the cabin, taking in the sight of the snow covered tree tops below before his eyes went to the object he had first broke in his steady stream of concentration in writing to stare at. His eyes lazily roamed over Michael's form, puffs of cold air coming from his parted lips as he focused solely on the tree with padding strapped to it.

Michael straightened his form, the baseball in his glove raised above his head before Michael pitched the ball straight at the tree, the ball hitting its target without fail. Kenny watched his boyfriend smile before jogging over to the ball and scooping it up. Though Kenny really wasn't much of a sports' fan, he was intrigued by the way Michael pitched the ball.

Kenny pulled his eyes from the scene, looking back at laptop screen that contained only three paragraphs of writing. Placing his hands back on the keyboard, Kenny thought for a long second trying to come up with the rest of the sentence he had formed in his head some time ago. Tapping the keys, he eventually realized much to a bit of frustration that the idea for the next scene of his story wasn't about to be formed any time soon.

"Argh! Why do I always have such problems trying to write when I should," Kenny groaned, pushing away from the laptop. Saving the file, Kenny shut down the program and closed his laptop. Pushing himself away from the table, Kenny dragged himself towards the large king sized bed and hurled himself face down on it. With a sigh, he closed his eyes, letting the frustration slip away.

Continuing to lay on the bed, the brunette didn't hear the sounds of the door to the cabin opening a closing softly. His mind was still a mess of webs and tangles he didn't know how he was going to get rid of. He still had Tala on the brain; the red head started his job already. It would have been nice if he could have been there to cheer on the red head, it would be an encouragement to try and stay positive, then again, that could be taken as a reason (at least in Tala's head) to push Kenny back towards his favor because it would be a sign of being interested once more.

Sure, he admits that he was still interested in Tala, but he was interested in Michael too, and he didn't want conflict to arise between the two of them. As he once said before, they were like to peas in the same pod, or rather Gemini. Two exact same sides of a coin, with slight differences. Exactly like the zodiac sign of the Gemini.

"Can my heart really take two of them?" Kenny mumbled into the cover, just as the weight on the side of his head sunk With a slight yelp, Kenny jolted up, staring into blue eyes that blinked at his with slight startle as the sudden 'jack-in-the-pop- action the brunette just displayed. Kenny let out a sigh, making a face at Michael. "You could give me warning when you plan to do something like that."

"Sorry," Michael grinned. "So, is this some new type of method of brainstorming for your story?"

"Aren't you suppose to be outside practicing your pitching or something," Kenny replied, flopping onto his back, staring up at Michael who was still grinning. "You keep grinning like that, and it's going to worry me."

"What? You don't want me to smile at you anymore?" Michael pouted.

"Not when it usually means that you have something devious in mind," Kenny countered. "So, why aren't you outside practicing?"

"I didn't feel you watching me anymore, so I came in to find out why my adoring boyfriend wasn't burning a hole into my back," Michael replied.

"I wasn't staring at you that hard," Kenny argued.

"Fine, fine, not hard enough to burn a hole into my back, but you were staring enough that an absence in the feel was noticeable," Michael stated. "So, you done writing for today, or just taking a break?"

"Dying," Kenny said.

"Pardon?" Michael blinked.

"My brain, it's dying," Kenny said with agitation. "I have all the thoughts in my head, but when it comes to putting it down, I don't know how to form the sentences…I quit…this book hates me, it doesn't want to be written, and I'm not going to force it out."

"Hey, you don't really mean you want to quit, you're just frustrated," Michael said calmly, pulling Kenny to him.

"I am, I can't think of what I want to write, it's hopeless," Kenny muttered.

"You're letting the frustration get to you," Michael assured. "All you need is a break, you necessarily don't have to sit at the computer all day typing, you can come outside, play in the snow, watch a movie, whatever you want. Find a game to play, you'll feel better once your mind has had a chance to sort through the tangles."

"No," Kenny said.

"Stop being stubborn," Michael said.

"No," Kenny repeated.

"And stop acting like a baby."

"Don't want to," Kenny crossed his arms over one another.

"You know, babies don't get what I have," Michael replied.

"Good, then you'd be a pedophile," Kenny commented. "And then you wouldn't be my boyfriend, you'd be in prison being some big burly man with lots of body hair's boyfriend."

"You know…sometimes you make me want to put you over my knee and spank you," Michael said with a short stare.

"Sex fiend," Kenny voiced.

"Do you really love me?" Michael frowned.

"Don't know, ask my brain right now," Kenny shrugged.

"You keep that up, I'm going back outside and leaving you alone in here with your brain," Michael threatened.

"Go ahead, and you'll be locked out," Kenny declared, right before he found himself pushed back on the bed and Michael over him, pinning his hands to the mattress. Blue eyes looked down at him. A smile twitched the corners of his mouth. "Is there a reason that you're over me like this."

"Well," Michael started, pulling Kenny's hands over his head, to free up one of his hands that went to pushing up the material of the pale blue sweater so that the cream colored skin of Kenny's stomach was showing. "I think that I need to find some way to not only get your mind off the frustration of writing, but to stop insulting me."

"And that's the only way you can think of?" Kenny murmured, closing his eyes; his back arching into the gentle touch roaming the familiar path up his body.

"Do you disagree?" Michael questioned.

"No, not really," Kenny said, licking his lips at the sensation running up his spine.

"Good, because I don't know what I would have done if I had to think of another way to get you to stop being so negative," Michael grinned.

"Hey, Michael," Kenny whispered, though it was also a half moan due to the fact that the red head's mouth was etching the exact same path that his hand had roamed.

"Lift up so I can remove your shirt," Michael ordered.

"Answer me," Kenny demanded softly while lifting up to have his sweater pulled off and tossed on the floor to give Michael more accessibility to Kenny's body.

"Fine, what is it that you need to ask me, or tell me?" Michael remarked.

"When we go back, do you think that you could sit down and talk with Tala?" Kenny opened his eyes to stare at Michael who had stopped what he was doing. "I've been thinking that…maybe he will understand things if he has a chance to meet you and talk to you."

"Do you really think that he will want to talk to me? From what you've told me about him, I'm probably the last person he will want to speak to," Michael stated. "I would be willing to do it, but I doubt that I'm on his list of people to be friends with."

"You might be right, but it's worth trying," Kenny sighed.

"If it really means a lot to you, I'll do it when we get back," Michael smiled.

"Thanks, now I just have to find where he works," Kenny said. "All I know is that he got a job working at an auto place fixing cars."

"There aren't that many places around, I'm sure we can find out where he's working," Michael said. "So, now that you have that out, shall we get back to what we were doing?"

"I suppose we can," Kenny murmured, reaching up and pulling Michael to him for a kiss. But in the back of his mind, he wondered if it would really be that easy to get Tala and Michael in the same room without Tala being himself and making an enemy of someone who might otherwise be a friend to him.

_**-------oooo--------**_

Tyson leaned against the checkout counter of the Barnes and Nobles store with a bored look on his face. His eyes looked at the two people that were checking out the selection of crossword puzzles, which were practically the only customers in the store. Considering that it was s Saturday afternoon, a little before three o'clock, he was expecting a small rush of people to come in the store and shop, but there were only those two people. The rest of the store was dead, even next door at the Starbucks, business seemed to creep along; one or two people went in, got a coffee or latte, then left. Maybe one or two wandered in to look over the selection, but they left.

"I can't believe that I'm stuck here on a Saturday afternoon with nothing to do, time is going to creep along so freaking slow," Tyson mumbled to himself. What made matters worse, was that his cousin was off having the time of his life in some secluded area with his boyfriend, without much of a care in the world at the moment. "He definitely has the best luck in the world sometimes."

With a sigh, Tyson decided that if he wanted time to at least slip by some, he should make himself productive. Pushing off the counter, Tyson walked from behind the counter to straighten the shelf of books that was too his left, while waiting for the couple to either make a selection and come pay for their items, or leave the store empty handed. Thus giving Tyson nothing to do either way when they made up their minds.

If he could, he would definitely have preferred that there was someone to talk to, the weekend manager was on the other side of the store in the back doing inventory, and would probably remain there for the rest of the evening until it was time for them to close the store down for the night.

Squinting in front of the bottom shelf of the display, Tyson set to work on his task of straightening up the display, after the first minute, his mind wandered away from him, thinking back to his cousin. He couldn't help but feel just a bit jealous that the brunette had a chance to get away somewhere from things and didn't have to stay in town, chancing Tala popping up where he lived or worked, and stirring up unwanted emotions he really couldn't take. Kenny was away from that for the weekend, without worry, and was given the chance to clear his mind. The same couldn't be said for Tyson.

"I'm being unfair to Ken," Tyson mumbled to himself, shaking his head. "He's had it just as hard as me. He needs to get away, I think he was hit harder in the long run."

Tyson thought back to when he first came back to Massachusetts after Max's mother told him, Max, and Zeo about Tala and Kai, he was still pretty out of it, not believing that Kai was gone just like that. He hadn't expected his cousin to be in as bad a shape as he was, after all, he had known Tala only for one summer, Tyson had known Kai since they were small. He expected Kenny to get over it all faster than him.

"I was foolish…"

Kenny's family didn't see the wounds, he would force smiles on his face around them, joke, force laughs to arise at jokes, he forced himself to be light hearted and carefree when others were around, that didn't know. That wouldn't understand, but around those who knew him best, Kenny had broke in half and there was no way to fix him. Those dull, blank eyes he came back to knocked him off his high horse of guilt, and shamed him for being selfish in thinking he was the only one that could possibly suffer so much. His cousin was the one that first proved to him that he was looking through a one way mirror at a two sided coin. If it hadn't been for Kenny sticking by his beliefs, Tyson wouldn't have discovered what was underneath, and it was now impossible to think of that.

"I really was an idiot back then, sometimes, I still am." Tyson felt a smile curl the edges of his mouth, banishing away the jealousy which wanted to eat at him like a bitter worm engulfing the leaves which waited until mid frost to come and die as quickly as they sprouted. "He has been supportive all this time, yet he's just finding be really happy again. What's wrong with you Tyson? You should know better than this petty jealousy."

Shaking his thoughts clear, Tyson turned his thoughts away from himself and Kenny. He really had to figure out what he was going to do about Kai and Ozuma. There was no way he would be able to get them in the same room without Kai pissing Ozuma off and Ozuma wanting to kill Kai. That might work for Kenny and his situation with Tala and Michael, but Kai wasn't one to keep his words regardless of what Tyson said. There had to be a way that the three of them could come to even grounds.

"Excuse me sir," said a voice above his head.

"Oh, I'm sorry, how may I help--" Tyson's sentence fell off when he saw who it was. "It's just you…"

"What do you mean it's just me?" Kain replied, a frown settling in the corners of his mouth. "I came to visit you because it was dead in here, and all I get from you is an 'oh it's you'? I might as well go back out the store with a greeting like that."

"Go then," Tyson nodded towards the door where the couple had just exited. Great, now he really was going to be extra bored out of his mind now that his only two customers in two hours had just left. On top of that, he was stuck with Kain, the last person he wanted to deal with. Not that the bluenette wouldn't help to entertain time away, his mind was just too jumbled for the teasing.

"I swear you and your cousin could have been born brothers instead of cousin, you irritate the hell out of me the same, but I end up worry over you both despite it," Kain said, leaning against the checkout counter while watching Tyson go back to straightening the display.

"You worry about me? That's a first, you're always threatening to kill me after all," Tyson voiced, tossing the bluenette an amused look. "Are you bipolar and we don't know it?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Kain wondered.

"You're the only person I know that can love a person one minute, then want to throw them in front of a train the next," Tyson answered.

"I usually have good reason if I'm thinking about throwing someone in front of a train. Either you're about to piss me off, have pissed me off, or messed with someone I know and hurt them," Kain responded.

"I'm assuming that's the reason you're here now, since Rei isn't in tow," Tyson assumed. "And from recent events, this little talk has to do with Tala, am I correct?"

"You hit the nail on the head," Kain nodded. "I want you to tell me a little bit about this bastard. Kenny told me to let it go, but this cocky bastard hurt him bad, and I can't let it go just like that. You grew up around him, so what was he like back then?"

"Well, he's pretty much the same now as he was when he was younger, with the exception that Kenny's in his life now. He and Kai…they were always in fights, didn't care who they talked down too, stayed in trouble. They were the town's black sheep, the ones you didn't hang around or talk about, yet couldn't help but talk about because trouble seemed to follow wherever they went. By the time we reached high school there was so many rumors attached to them that you didn't know what to believe," Tyson declared.

"Do you think…that those two staged the whole thing?" Kain asked.

"What do you mean?" Tyson looked up at Kain, blinking with confusion. "You mean, that maybe they made up the whole thing or something like that."

"Well, from what you just told me, they were troublemakers, up until hooking up with you," Kain remarked.

"I doubt that they would go through all that trouble," Tyson shook his head.

"Not even just to take you for a loop and then see what they did only to get pissed off you weren't still mourning them and moved on with your lives. They were your first loves, am I not correct?" Kain asked.

"They were, but they wouldn't. Something in Kai's eyes…whenever he looked at me, I knew he was incapable of being cruel as to playing around with my emotions," Tyson smiled.

"You're firm in that thought aren't you?"

"Yeah. It's true that no one saw the bodies except the family, and my friend's mother told us that both were abused by their uncle growing up…" Tyson trailed off, thinking about something important that just snapped a new piece into the puzzle.

"Tyson?" Kain looked down at his friend, seeing something spark in the stormy eyes.

"Nobody but the family saw the body…that's can't be true…" Tyson whispered to himself.

"What?" Kain frowned.

Tyson turned his eyes up at Kain. "That day their bodies were supposedly found, nobody but the family saw the body, they took the bodies back to Russia for burial. That couldn't have been true. Wouldn't a doctor and a coroner have kept the bodies safe until someone got there? Let's not mention the police since it was a crime scene. But nobody knew a word of this until after the bodies were shipped to Russia…there's something missing."

"You think you might have stumbled onto where they've been?"

"That would explain them disappearing for three years without communication, if they weren't in the country at all. There wasn't much of a way for them to tell us," Tyson said. "I have to tell Kenny about this and see if it makes as much sense to him as it does to me."

"You should wait until he comes back, you of all people should know how edgy he is right now, let him have his bit of fun before sending him back to that point again," Kain suggested.

"I know, though my jealousy keeps stabbing me in the head about his luck to run away for the weekend to some remote area to relax and have sex in peace at," Tyson sighed. "Of course, I had to work, Ozuma isn't available to run away this weekend or next weekend either."

"Where's Watari gotten himself busy with other than you?" Kain teased.

"Shut up, you were fine until you started in with the jokes," Tyson glowered.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood, ease up there buddy," Kain smiled. "You need one of these, I doubt it's been a bunch of smiles and sunshine for you the past few days."

"No…it hasn't. Ozuma's a bit on the high wire about Kai, and I half crazy myself. Sex between us hasn't occurred since I've found out about Kai. I guess, I do need a smile or two, even if it's from your annoying ass," Tyson admitted.

"You know, if my ass is so annoying, why do you hang around me?" Kain quirked a brow.

"My cousin and Rei," Tyson answered simply.

"I love you too," Kain rolled his eyes. "Back to the subject, what's Ozuma busy with?"

"Well, since he hasn't told me yet, I think he's sorting out his feelings with everything. He says that he's fine, and Kai didn't get under his skin, but I think that whatever Kai said to him, really is bugging him. He's all smiles around everyone, but you can see it," Tyson sighed. "I know he's just not going to break up with me out of the blue, so I'm not worried about that. I wish he would open up and get it off his chest though."

"He will," Kain assured. "As you said, he's sorting out his feelings with everything. It's sudden for everyone to take with it coming out the blue like this. Given a little time and understanding, he will be back to making hot monkey love to you."

Tyson didn't say one word as he stared at Kain before picking up a hardcover book and whacking the other bluenette in the shin with it. Kain yelped as he grabbed shin, glaring at Tyson. "You deserved that one."

"You little…" Kain growled, rubbing his shin.

"You started it," Tyson interrupted, continuing what he was doing, even if his mind now had one more web decorating his thoughts, at least this new one might help to clear out the rest.

_**---------oooo---------**_

"Hey, Tala, Kai, boss wants to see you when you're done putting on that fan belt," a young man with short spiked black hair with bleached tips called over to the two that were fixing the fan belt on a customer's car.

"Tell him we'll be there in a second," Kai said, pushing himself from under the car, while Tala closed the hood of the car. Kai got up from the ground, cutting off the flashlight and looking back at the woman standing to the side. "Tala, hand me the pad."

"Here," Tala tossed over the pad that sat on the top of the Volvo. The red head watched his cousin write up the report before handing it to the lady, and instructing her to go to the front desk to pay for the bill. The woman thanked her, while the guy with bleached tips walked over.

"I'll get her car out to the lot for you."

"Thanks Jacob," Kai said, nodding to the guy.

"Kai, Tala, come here for a second," Barnard said, waving for the two boys to come over to where he was standing. Curious as to what their boss wanted, both walked over to where he was standing with questioning stares. "Don't look like that, I'm not about to chop your heads off or anything."

"Kyle's still open to that suggestion," Kaismirked, his eyes catching their boss's protégé glaring at them from where he was instructing a new guy about what to do.

"Friendly competition is good for the spirit," Barnard laughed. "You two are damn hard workers, and know a lot about working under the hoods of cars."

"Like we told you earlier this week, we didn't trust people to fix our bikes around the area we lived so if you want the job done right, you do it yourself," Tala shrugged.

"So, if you aren't beheading us, what's up?" Kai asked.

"I got to thinking about this after you two came out of nowhere and plucked yourselves up jobs," Barnard said. "I want to put you both in charge of roadside assistance, you don't mind do you?"

"Hell no," Kai spoke up.

"Good, that's the sort of attitude I'm looking for out of you boys. You keep this up, and I might post you at the other shop and put you in charge of it," Barnard said. "I'll go ahead and set it up for you, so starting Monday you'll be in charge of roadside assistance. If you want, you can take the rest of the afternoon off, you've been here since we opened this morning."

"Thank you sir," both replied concurrently as their boss walked away.

"Do you still have issues with my skill at finding jobs randomly walking around?" Kai grinned.

"Pure luck," Tala snorted, walking towards the employee room.

"Not luck, a sign," Kai corrected.

"What type of sign?" Tala questioned.

"That things are looking up," Kai answered. "It wasn't a coincidence that we 'stumbled' upon these jobs, they were meant for us to find."

"Don't tell me you're religious now," Tala said with a roll of his eyes. "Spare me the talk about God, guardian angels, and that bullshit. It's pure luck that we were in the right place at the right time."

"You really think so?" Kai chuckled.

"I know so," Tala assured. "After all, if God really sent that as a 'sign' as you think so, why didn't he do the one thing that we both really wanted, and give us our reasons for coming all the way up here to live? Can you answer that for me, since you want to believe in God and miracles."

"I don't believe in miracles," Kai argued.

"Well you believe in God, why not miracles too?" Tala retorted.

"Because miracles are hopeless dreams people wish for and then disillusion themselves with when they think they have it. Like people with cancer who think it's a miracle when the tumor disappears. Just the human body fighting off disease, nothing more," Kai explained. "Secondly, I never said I believe in God. Karma."

"Great, so, what was I in my previous lifetime?" Tala scoffed.

"A gerbil," Kai grinned.

"You really are cracked," Tala smiled.

"Good that you smiled finally, you've been in a pissy mood since earlier in the week. I know you don't want to talk about it, but it's really not doing you any good, especially with the nightmares piling on top of that. You're going to be no good to anyone if you keep that up," Kai analyzed.

"You're not my therapist, remember I made her quit," Tala reminded.

"Yes, poor woman couldn't take your insanity and left before her sanity ran out," Kai nodded. "You know, I'm just saying--"

"Yeah yea, I know what you're just saying," Tala cut in. "I'll be fine, you're in the same boat as me, so neither one of us are up to lecturing the other. So let's drop it and get some dinner."

"Good idea, we'll think about it tomorrow, sound good?" Kai said.

"Whatever, come on, I'm hungry."

_**------------oooooo-------------**_

Rim: Hah! I'm done with the chapter…it's sort of running all over the place, but this is what you get when you write in class while boring ass teachers are talking about shit. B.T. don't kill me for the conditions under which this was written, at least I did something productive with my time! All right, next chapter shouldn't have such a long wait, I've resolved most of my issues!


	17. Chapter 17

Rim: Well, it seems that we're starting off the new year right. See, I'm going to be a bit nicer this year and give you all an update off the top of the year. Now…if I can put down Death Note long enough….then we can get this started. Thanks for all the reviews that I got last year, and let's see what good the new year brings. Now we go onwards with this story, I hope you all enjoy the first new chapter of the new year.

_**-----------oooooo------------**_

Tyson sat on his cousin's bed, watching as Rei helped Kenny unpack the rest of his clothes from the bag sitting on the floor. Kain was propped in a chair, a pen in his hand as he took notes in his English book for an upcoming test he had. Not too long ago, Kenny had called them all to tell them he just came back in town from his trip. Since Tyson didn't have to work until later that night, he decided that he would welcome his cousin home. By the time he got there, Kain and Rei were arriving on the scene.

It was just recently the four came upstairs to talk in private, since Kenny's mother wanted to know exactly how the weather was over the weekend. In fact, the woman spent nearly twenty minutes finding out as much as Kenny was willing to tell her without letting on that he was in a relationship with the person he went on a trip with.

"Hey," Kain said, writing something down in his English book before tapping the pencil on the side of his book. He raised his eyes momentarily to where Kenny was pulling out a pair of clothes, dumping a few of them on the floor in order to be washed later.

"Who are you talking to?" Tyson questioned.

"I was talking to your cousin."

"Then you should have added in his name," Tyson pointed out.

"I thought he would have known who I was talking to when I said hey," Kain said.

"Well, for all we know, you could have been talking to Rei or me," Tyson stated.

"I would never address my baby in that manner of speaking, and you…I would have just made some comment which would highlight just how acerbating you really are," Kane countered.

"Oh, you actually know big words after all," Tyson said sarcastically, dodging the highlighter which flew past his head. "Love you too, Culbert."

"Shut your mouth," Kain warned.

"What are you going to do? Throw something else with your crappy throwing skills?" Tyson mocked.

"All right you two," Rei interrupted. "Kain, go ahead and ask Kenny what was on your mind. And Kain, please don't tell Tyson that he's lucky that I stopped you from saying something in regards to his comment. You'll only get the banter started once more. And don't say I'm taking all the fun out of things either."

Kain closed his mouth, glaring at Tyson who was all grins, then redirected his thoughts back to the brunette who was tossing another shirt on the floor to be washed. "Well, I know we heard you telling your mom about the trip, but we know you left out a lot of things."

"That's true. So, how was the trip?" Rei inquired, walking over to the closet and hanging a shirt on an empty clothes hanger. He tilted his head to the side, looking at his brunette friend that was heading over to the dresser to put up a pair of shirts.

"Yeah, do tell us all the juicy tidbits that we know you're aching to share with us," Kain grinned, his eyes remaining on his book, so he didn't notice the face that both Tyson and Kenny were making at the remark.

"There are no juicy tidbits that you need to know. I wrote, Michael did his thing, end of story," Kenny said.

"Oh come on, no cuddling in the living room on a bear skin rug by the fire and indulging on strawberries and cream? No waking up before dawn and watching the sunrise together? No long hot baths together, no candle-lit dinners, no romantic strolls in the snow?" Kain interrogated.

"What do you think we were trying to have a romantic get away?" Kenny voiced.

"Well…yes!" Kain exclaimed. "Wasn't that the point of getting away from here for a weekend? So you wouldn't have to put up with me, Tyson, or that asshole?"

"Kain, I thought I told you not to call him an asshole or bastard," Kenny sighed, picking up the clothes from his floor and putting them in a blue basket by the door to be washed later that evening. "Nothing Tala does means to be offensive or a dire attempt to make me cry when he feels about it. It just has that effect on me too often."

"I can contest to that," Tyson nodded. "I remember when I tried to figure out what you saw in him, because it seemed that all he wanted to cause anyone was heartache."

"So you're telling me that your opinion of him has finally changed, Tyson?" Kenny asked.

"Well…I guess a bit," Tyson said with a shrug. "It's obvious that he adores you and likes to piss me off, but he would definitely try to get along with me, if you asked him to. That's just a Tala thing to do. However, he still makes me want to scream my head off every time he's around."

"That just goes to show you that you both like to irritate each other so much, that it's become a natural thing now," Kenny commented. "So, how were things here while I escaped from madness for the weekend?"

"You left me here to be tormented by Kain," Tyson spoke up.

"You little…fine, the next time you don't have any customers in the store, and you're bored out of your mind, I'll look the other way and let you go out of your mind then," Kain glared. "You little ungrateful monkey."

"Who said that I was ungrateful?" Tyson grinned. "I just said that you were irritating me, I never said that I didn't enjoy the time you took out of your busy schedule to help me pass a couple of hours away. Though you did make me a little jealous, Chief. You being gone to spend quality time with Michael, leaving me here, wondering if Kai was going to pull some stunt to drive my boyfriend further away from me."

"I don't know if Kai came by and told you, but he and Tala found a job working at an auto body shop or something fixing cars," Kenny responded. "Hey…what do you mean 'drive my boyfriend further away from me'? Ozuma buckling under the insanity called a jealous Kai Hiwatari?"

"Back up, what do you mean they found a job?" Tyson blinked. "How did you find this out?"

"Tala came by my job before I left and told me that he and Kai found a job working for this guy who saw them fix someone's car on the side of the road," Kenny said. "Tala wanted me to come by the shop and give my opinion on it, but it was the same weekend as when I was leaving with Michael, so I had to decline and he got in one of his moods about it."

"That's always," Tyson remarked. "But still…I wonder why Kai didn't come by and invite me to see where he worked. I would have checked it out."

"I guess Kai knew that inviting you would tear on his will power," Kenny stated.

"That makes sense," Tyson nodded. "Okay, moving forward, did that red headed monkey tell you where they were working at?"

"He might have, if I decided to come and not break his heart by telling him that I was going with Michael somewhere away from him. But I'm sure it can't be too hard to find him, I mean, how many auto shops are around the city any way?" Kenny said.

"Well, I know of about four that serve the purpose of fixing cars, and about five that does just tires and oil jobs. If you really want to find those two, the phone book is a good place to look up the listing of all the ones that are in the area. From what I'm going on, they don't want to go too far from you, so they aren't going to work in the next county over," Rei contemplated. "Kenny's right, it shouldn't be too hard finding out which one they work at."

"All right, now let's move back in time to my first question," Kenny said.

"What was that?" Kain blinked.

"Tyson, you were mentioning something on the lines about your boyfriend being driven further away from you. Don't tell me that Ozuma's buckling under the pressure?" Kenny spoke.

"Well, it's not anything that severe. It's just…I think that Kai said something to him that got him bothered. He won't tell me about it, he keeps telling me that everything's fine. He smiles when we're around people, but when we're alone, I can sense that he's distant. Kain and I were talking about it while you were gone."

"And what was said? It's rare when Kain actually gives good advice," Kenny smiled teasingly.

"You know…next time, you're finding another shoulder to cry on, that's not mine," Kain replied.

"You know I'm just messing with you, so what was the conversation about?" Kenny questioned.

"I told Tyson that I was certain that everything would work out. And that he didn't need to worry about anything," Kain voiced.

"Good advice," Kenny nodded. "I give you the benefit of a doubt Kain, you're useful after all."

"Oh, thank you every much, my good friend who I've adored for nearly seven year now," Kain said sarcastically. He lifted his eyes from the book that was in his hand, glaring slightly at the brunette now putting up the empty bag his clothes was in. Once finished, Kenny sat on the bed beside his cousin. Rei walked over and draped himself lightly over Kain, looking down into the English book.

"Still stuck on the eighteenth century literature?" Rei murmured, kissing the side of Kain's cheek.

"Rei, I love you as if you were a brother, I would gladly go to hell and back for you, but please spare my eyes the sight of you two being sugar coated around me," Kenny pleaded, turning his eyes away. "If I had known three years ago, that the relationship was going to be like this, I would have flown home and stopped it from happening."

"We were screwing by the time you left," Kain grinned wickedly. "There was nothing you could have done to stop us. Unless you planned to kill us."

"Just you, I need Rei alive," Kenny mocked lightly. He dodged the pencil that flew by his head and onto the other side of his bed. "There's no need for you to be angry, at least Rei would still be alive, that's all that matters right?"

"I'm glad that I don't have a little brother like you, I think I would have drowned him some year ago, if he had your attitude," Kain said, pushing himself up from the chair. Rei let go, straightening his posture. "Well, as fun as it would be to sit here and be insulted further, I have class at five and then me and Rei were planning to head out to see either _The Mothman Prophecies _or _One Hour Photo _at the drive in."

"I thought we decided on either _The Count of Monte Cristo _or _A Walk To Remember_?" Rei voiced.

"I am not going to see _A Walk To Remember_! That's a chick flick. I mean, I may be gay, but seriously, I'm not that gay," Kain declared, closing his book. He looked at Rei who was by now pouting at the comment. "And that look isn't going to work with me."

"But Kain, I really wanted to see one of those movies," Rei whined.

"Too bad, I'm not going to watch a chick movie," Kain stated. "Either we see one of the two movies that I thought about, or we won't go see a movie at all."

"You know," Rei frowned. "How about I stay home and let you go without sex tonight?"

"Guess we'll be seeing _A Walk To Remember_ then," Kain announced defeated.

"Just think, even if I don't like the movie, we will be in the car, and who knows, the romantic atmosphere might trigger something," Rei reasoned. "We'll be all alone, in the car, away from other people, with the radio on so no one will be able to hear a thing." Rei leaned over and licked into Kain's ear, sending a shiver up the bluenette's spine. "So, do you still think it's a bad idea?"

"No…no…it's a very good idea," Kain nodded, a flush of color tinting his cheeks.

"Outside, please," Tyson said, covering his eyes. "Wait…forget it. I have to leave anyway so I can get ready for work tonight. I plan on going to see if Ozuma might want to do anything afterwards since I don't have class tomorrow."

"Lucky you, I still have my Sociology homework to get through," Kenny groaned. "Maybe we can all do something this weekend?"

"I'll check my schedule and see if I'm open," Kain grinned.

"You don't have anything to do," Tyson stated.

"Rei," Kain said simply.

"Out of my room," Kenny said.

"I'll call you later Kenny," Rei smiled, pushing his boyfriend out the door.

"If you don't have anything to do this weekend, you want to take a trip with me?" Tyson said.

"Where are you going?" Kenny asked.

"Oh, well it's Zeo's birthday Sunday, and I talked to him and Max, and they said that Emily and Johnny are coming down from West Virginia to visit and celebrate his birthday. I was thinking that it would be nice if we all got together to celebrate, then again, you might not want to leave Michael here. And if I'm right, Jordan was going to be there also," Tyson said.

"But isn't she still with Steve? Or did they break up and her eyes are back on me hearing about my tragedy?"

"You don't have to worry, she and Steve are still together. I talked to Max a few days ago, and he was telling me about everything. In fact, I heard they wanted to get married when Jordan graduated from college," Tyson chuckled, seeing the look on his cousin's face. "I borrowed the money from my dad, so you don't have to worry about tickets."

"It's been a while since I saw everyone," Kenny thought. "I'm sure that Michael can survive one weekend without me."

"Great! I'll call Max later and tell him that you're coming too!" Tyson grinned. "I better get going now though. Have to get ready for work, you take it easy and enjoy the rest of your day, unlike some of us."

"Tyson, question, when you talked to Max, did you tell him about Kai and Tala?"

"No, not yet. I want to be face to face with him when I tell him. I really need his opinion on this. And I heard that his mother was going to be there. There's something important that I have to ask her concerning this whole thing," Tyson murmured. He lowered his eyes to the ground, contemplating what he overturned. Noticing the mood which befell his cousin, Kenny began worrying that something had happened.

"Ty, what's the matter?"

"Sorry to go all dark and gloomy on you, Chief," Tyson apologized, lifting to his eyes to meet his cousin's. He didn't want to bring up his analysis of the whole issue with Tala and Kai right now. It would only worry and eat at Kenny. If he couldn't do much else for the brunette, he was going to spare him from the nagging question of this until Tyson was certain of his findings. Getting up from the bed, he put on a smile. "I guess I'm a little nervous about everyone's reaction, you know. Max and Zeo and Max's mom were so worried over me after it, now this just throws a whole knew wrench into things."

"I can understand, you don't know how they're going to react," Kenny nodded.

"Exactly. I really should get things squared away with Ozuma first too. I'll call you later okay." Tyson pushed himself up off the bed.

"All right. And Tyson, give Ozuma time, he has to adjust to Kai being here," Kenny advised.

"I know, I'm not going to push him into accepting that Kai's really not going to go anywhere as long as I'm around," Tyson commented. "I'll talk to you later, Chief." Kenny watched his cousin exit the room, a frown resting lightly in the corners of his mouth. There was something that was bugging Tyson.

He didn't know whether it had to do with his situation with Ozuma, or about having to tell Max and Zeo about Tala and Kai being alive, nevertheless Tyson was resilient and he would bounce back from this in no time. In the meantime, Kenny decided that he would do a bit of digging on his own and find out where Tala and Kai had got themselves employed at. As Rei said, it really couldn't be so hard to find out.

_**--------oooo-------**_

"Ozuma, are you in there?" Miriam waved a hand in front of her brother's face, as the zoned out teen sipped on his milkshake absently. "Ozuma, will you wake up for a second?"

"You know, that's a lost cause Miriam," Salima grinned from where she was watching two more of their friends skateboarding on a ramp. "Your brother is like the only other person I know that prefers to stay in dream land."

"Whose the other person?" Miriam raised a brow.

"Kain of course," Salima chimed.

"You still chasing him around," Ozuma raised a brow, then shifted a green eye on the girl. "Salima, how long have you been after Kain again?"

"Since he became friends with Kenny back when we were in middle school," Salima answered.

"Oh, so you come out of dream world for her, but when it comes to me, I don't get the same reply. You know, even though we're half siblings, you act like a bratty little brother all the same."

"That's just how much I love you Mir," Ozuma grinned, releasing his straw from his mouth. "So, what did you want me to wake up out of dreamland for?"

"Your sister's worried about you," Salima said. "You've been a zombie for the past few days, she's becoming a mother hen because she thinks you're either into drugs or some sort of trouble that you haven't told anyone about."

"You don't have to worry about me, Mir." Despite of the fact that they had different mothers and the same father, and for a long time grew up without knowledge of each other-until Ozuma got into a bit of trouble when he was thirdteen and was sent to live with his father and Miriam's mother for a time-the two were extremely close. And only seemed to grow closer with each year that passed. He was often touched by her sincerity to be a good sister to him and make up for the time which they lost.

"I bet it's romance issues that have you in a bind," said a girl with long blonde hair streaked with red and black done up into two ponytails. The girl had her elbows propped up on the table whilst her eyes scanned a page in the book in front of her. "So, Zuma, am I right or not?"

"Victoria…seriously, I swear you're psychic," Ozuma laughed, looking at the girl who had been best friends with his sister and Salima since he first arrived in Massachusetts to live. She had always been a sweet, yet shy girl who helped him get settled in school during middle and high school. Over the last year, she gained more self confidence in herself, and was becoming more social with others.

"I'm not psychic, you can see it in your eyes, buddy," Victoria grinned. "We've been good friends for a while now, I can read you like a book."

"At least someone can, he gives me too many headaches when I try to read him," Miriam groaned. "So, Miss Bennet, tell me what's wrong with my brother regarding a love life I had no idea existed."

"Just because I don't tell you everything, that doesn't mean I don't have a love life," Ozuma protested.

"Seems Ozuma has some competition on either someone he wants to date or someone he's already dating. More than likely, it's someone he's dating because I don't see Ozuma being single this long," Victoria analyzed. "And from what I can gather from the distant gaze, your lover either likes or once liked this other person and this person has said something to you that's made you think about your relationship. Am I right?"

Ozuma stared at Victoria for a long time as the girl grinned at him. "You know…I do have a stake and lots of wood. I can always go to the store and buy some lighter fluid, you damn witch. How the hell can you tell all that from looking at me? You're a witch, I swear it."

"I hit the nail on the head, didn't ?" Victoria grinned.

"Damn you," Ozuma teased. "You work for the FBI or CIA don't you? Either you're a witch, or you a federal agent because no one should know that much information by one look."

"Vic, it never ceases to amaze me how easy you do that," Salima laughed. "Can you read anyone else other than Ozuma?"

"Nope, my ability limits me to only him," Victoria replied.

"I'm getting away from you," Ozuma said, getting up to throw away the empty plate sitting in front of him. Victoria got up from where she was seated, following Ozuma to the other side of the park where the trash bins were. Ozuma looked over at the girl who had her hands in the pockets of her jean jacket. "I said I was getting away from you."

"You'll never be able to get away from me," Victoria said.

"You know…that sounds like you're planning to either stalk me for God only knows how long, or kidnap me and never let me go," Ozuma joked.

"Maybe both," Victoria grinned, the smile on her face the perfect expression of someone possessed with evil intent.

"Yeah…you're scaring me, I'm telling my momma," Ozuma sniffed playfully.

"Oh hush up, you know I would never be able to kidnap you. Everyone knows that the first suspect on the list when you go missing is me," Victoria stated. "I haven't planned out the spot where I'm going to keep you caged up at until the police stop looking."

"Yeah…I'm going to worry about you dearly, and sleep with my dorm room locked down. If I go missing, they will know I put up a struggle," Ozuma smiled. "So, tell me, why are you tracking me?"

"Well, I suppose that like Miriam, I'm worried about you. You want to talk about it?" Victoria questioned.

"There's not a lot to say. The person I'm going out with currently, their ex just came back into the picture and well…the bastard's arrogant and certain that I'm nothing to worry about when he wants his ex back. I know that the person I'm with…I know they love me a lot, but…" Ozuma trailed off.

"You're having doubts huh?" Victoria said.

"Well…"

"You know, you can always dump the person you're with and go out with me," Victoria chimed with a huge grin on her face. "I come with no strings attached. And there's not one skeleton in my closet for you to get whacked in the head with." At that comment, Ozuma felt a burst of laughter rise from his lips and slip out. As if that was the response Victoria was looking for-which it probably was-she laughed along with him. When the laughter died down, Ozuma reached over and kissed Victoria on the cheek.

"You're a good friend, that's Vic," Ozuma smiled.

"If you ever need a laugh, I'm here for you Zuma."

"Thanks, Victoria. I just might need it in the long run."

_**----------oooooo----------**_

Rim: Hah! I've finished finally, and in time to still post before it's January second! And I prevail over time once more. But I did want to add in another part, but oh well, I can save it for the next chapter, just to have some stuff to write about. Well, I hope everyone likes the first update of the year, I'm going to eat cake and ice cream now. Breaking new year's resolutions already…bad Rim…oh well…


	18. Chapter 18

Rim:I haven't been procrasinating, honestly I haven't. I blame school for me not updating sooner. But at least I've gotten my testing out of the way. I'mfree once again!So now, it's time to party and party hard. Oh...and I guess update so you all don't kill me or something.I've thought long about what this chapter will include, and I figured what the hell, it can be an extension of last chapter, considering I already had the last few chapters sketched out.

_**-oooooo-**_

"Are you really serious?" A young man with short sienna haired tied back with a pastel blue ribbon looked up at Kai in amazement. Her friends stood behind her, just as fascinated. Tala tilted his head to the side, staring at his cousin for a brief moment, and then rolled his eyes, going back to work on replacing the brake lines in the Explorer.

"Of course I'm serious, would I have any reason to lie to you?" Kai responded, his lips pulling back in a broad grin. His fiery eyes lit up with amusement at the girls' reactions.

"That's impossible," chimed another girl, this one with long jet black hair in a French braid. "You have to be lying to us. There is no way that you are only twenty-one! You look like you're eighteen."

"As they say, looks are deceiving," Kai said. "I have no reason to lie to you. I can even show you my driver's license to prove that I'm twenty-one. Do you want to see it, or do you take my word?"

"We'll take your word, even though you don't look like you're twenty-one. You really look good for your age, I bet when you're thirty something, you will still look like you're eighteen," the third girl, this one a short strawberry blonde said.

"I really do hope so, sweetie," Kai said. "If that's not the case, then I fear I may have to commit suicide because I won't be adored by lovely young ladies like you anymore." Tala wanted to throw the socket wrench in his hand at his cousin's head, but the last thing he needed was the dual haired philanderer to kill over before helping him finish this job. Then again, it wasn't as if his cousin was doing more than standing around flirting with a group of college seniors anyway.

Sure it was one of his cousin's favorite past times, but as of late, it really appeared as if Kai had given up on getting Tyson back, and decided to move on. However, Tala knew his cousin better than he knew himself sometimes, and Kai was only trying to find an excuse to let go of the pain which seemed to have burrowed deep into his heart. He never confided in Tala over matters, in fact, half the time Tala just went about his business until he came across what was possibly clawing at the other. It probably had to do with the way they grew up, so he rarely got frustrated with Kai.

Up until just recently, however. It was a never ending cycle in the last few days. Whenever he was a pretty girl who was more than likely interested in him, Kai turned all his charm levels up to critical, and dove into the task. Yet Tala could see behind the mask, at the person which was deep in thought over his situation, piled on by other hurtles life wanted to toss his way, and desperately hoping to find a center eventually.

Yes, he could see it. But that didn't mean he wanted to experience it anymore than he was being forced to now.

"Are you really Japanese?" the girl with the short hair asked, who was also the owner of the car he was fixing. "I didn't think that Japanese guys were so hot."

"Thank you so very much," Kai said, the smile on his face stretching wider. "But to tell you the truth, I'm a special breed. Not all Japanese guys look as hot as I do."

"I can agree with you," nodded the girl with the French braid. "Especially with your hair. You have to tell me how you managed to do your hair like that. It had to have taken a lot of time."

"My hair's naturally this color, as for everything else on me," Kai said, letting his sensual mouth drop into a sexy smirk, lowering his lashes over dark wine colored eyes, until they were just slits. "Do you want to see for yourself?" The desired effect he wanted immediately presented itself; all three girls flushed tomato red, lowering their gazes from the seductive stare.

"Are you done flirting Adonis?" Tala inquired sarcastically, peering over his shoulder at his cousin. "Your help is welcomed at any given time you feel ready to lend it."

"Oh, what's wrong Tala? Are we not paying enough attention to you?" Kai questioned. "Are you trying to rush these lovely young ladies out of here before we have a chance to get to know them?"

"I can't believe you said that Kai. What would give you that impression?" Tala wondered, his voice clipping. "That would have to be the most preposterous statement from your mouth I've ever heard."

"I don't think your friend likes us very much," the strawberry blonde replied, eying Tala's back. "Maybe you should get to work, we don't want you to get in trouble, if he decides to complain to your boss about you slacking off or something."

"Oh, don't worry about my cousin," Kai laughed.

"He's your cousin? He's nothing like you, well besides really good looking," the car owner said.

"We didn't spend nearly enough time together growing up. So, I'm the outgoing one, and he's the shy type. So don't take what he says seriously, that's just his shy nature taking over. He loves attention girls, I think we were making him jealous because no one seems to want to flirt with him," Kai replied.

"He didn't seem interested, so we thought he didn't like us," the strawberry blonde stated. "But since we know he's only shy, we'll happily flirt with him. Maybe we can all go to a bar together one day. I'm always looking for a new boyfriend."

"You are definitely a bold one," Kai laughed. "I think that you're more suited to my cousin, he loves the ones who know what they want. Isn't that right Tala?" Saving Tala from answering that question was one of the older men that worked in the shop. His short black speckled blonde curls hung to his forehead covered in grime. He was wiping sweat off his face with a dirty rag.

"Hey Tala, you have a visitor." The remark was to say shocking, considering that there wasn't anyone they knew in town that knew where they worked, outside of the people at the shop, and girls Kai had flirted with. Azure eyes met with curious auburn eyes, then the speckled haired man.

"Maybe…" Kai started.

"There's no way, I never told where I worked," Tala interrupted, pulling himself from under the hood of the machine, wiping his hands off on the jumper he wore. "Finish working on the brake lines, and I'll be back in a minute or two."

"Yes sir!" Kai mock saluted his cousin, who rolled his eyes to the ceiling in annoyance. Tala had no idea who was visiting him, since he hadn't told Kenny where he worked, and doubted Tyson was going to try and be chummy with him by finding where he worked at; besides, Tyson would come to see Kai, not him in the first place. His mind boggled over other possibilities, until he was in the waiting area that visitors were seated in.

Stopping in the doorway, he blinked, not believing that Kenny was there. The brunette looked up at the red head with a warm smile, standing up when Tala came into the room. Tala opened his mouth to say something, but the words he was looking for seemed to stick to the sides of his throat, as a sense of exhilaration filled him.

"It looks like you and Kai found yourselves in a place you really know a lot about," Kenny said, starting off the conversation when he saw that Tala seemed almost spellbound by his appearance. He probably figured that Kenny wasn't going to come due to being with Michael. "I'm really happy for you, Tala."

"How did you know…?" Tala started.

"Where you worked at?" Kenny finished. The smile on his face stretched further across his face looking up at the older man. "Well, first I thought about what you said when you first told me you found jobs. Then I went to the phone book, looking up all the auto shops around the area, followed by calling each one asking if they had employees by your names. And then when I found out, I got directions and came here."

"I didn't think you would bother yourself so much with it," Tala admitted.

"Because of me being with Michael?" Kenny said. "You shouldn't be that gullible in believing I don't want anything to do with you because of Michael. It's true, that I went off with him for the weekend, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to overlook the fact that you have a stroke of good luck in finding jobs so fast. You know I'm not that type of person."

"I'm really glad you came and checked the place out," Tala smiled, thinking that maybe there was a chance that his love was coming back around to him.

"Tyson would have come along with me, but he had to get to work. He was a little put off that Kai didn't tell him about the job. Maybe you should get Kai to invite Tyson," Kenny suggested.

"This is Kai we're talking about you don't really think that he's going to listen to me about that subject?" Tala raised a brow, looking down at Kenny.

"You two are close, he'll listen to you. If not, he might listen to me."

"You want me to go get him, so you can talk to him about inviting Tyson?" Tala inquired.

"No, not now, I actually came because I wanted to ask you something." Now he got down to the second reason why he came to see Tala. After Tyson and the others left earlier that day, he got to thinking about how he wanted Tala and Michael to get to know each other better, so there wouldn't be any tension. Of course, there was a chance that when Tala found out what Kenny wanted to ask him, he was going to dive back into his shell without a second thought about it. Tala occasionally had his moments, where even Kenny couldn't bring him out of his shell.

"It's something I'm not going to like, isn't it?" Tala questioned, noting the bleak grimace between the brunette's brows. Kenny looked up, his expression reminding Tala of a kid who just got caught masturbating to some porn in the bathroom, by his mother: guilty tinged with embarrassment.

"I guess you can read me just as well as I can read you," Kenny flushed. "I was just going to ask you, if you would…well…come over to my house…and…have dinner with me."

"Wouldn't your boyfriend think there was something between us when he learns that you invited me over for dinner? Or is this something your mother asked?" Tala questioned.

"My parents are going out tonight, so they won't be home until after one," Kenny said.

"So, it's a romantic dinner for two then?" Tala raised a brow. "Your boyfriend might be upset when he finds out that more than dinner will happen with the two of us being left alone like that." The sureness in Tala's voice caused Kenny to flush more, knowing full well that Tala would do something of that nature, given the opportunity.

"Michael's going to be there too!" Kenny exclaimed. "I wanted to get the three of us together for dinner, so the two of you could get to know each other better, because you two are really a lot alike. He's already agreed to it with no problem I just have to find out whether you're okay with it also."

"You want me to say yes, so you aren't hurt by the rejection, don't you?" Tala asked, crossing his arms over one another. "Saying yes would mean a lot to you…"

"It would, however I don't want you to be uncomfortable with the decision. If you don't want to meet him, then I'm not going to force you to do so. You're free to say no," Kenny voiced, knowing that Tala took his words greatly to heart when there was no need to. It was just something that Tala did automatically.

"I'll come," Tala said almost immediately after what Kenny said.

"Tala, I told you that I don't want you just saying that," Kenny scolded lightly. "I want you to really think about it before making the decision."

"I don't need to think about it," Tala replied. "I've already thought about it, and I want to come regardless of the fact that your boyfriend is there. The only thing that matters is your happiness. You seem to think that there's something we can learn from this, I'm interested in seeing if he can handle me."

"I don't want you running him into the street in an attempt to commit suicide," Kenny sighed. So that was on Tala's mind, he was going to try to do something similar to what Kai had done with Ozuma in hopes that Michael was going to dump him, so that Tala had a greater chance of getting back together with him. "I want you to be on your best behavior."

"I'll be an angel," Tala swore.

"A contrast to your devil-may-care behavior?" Kenny smiled, looking up at Tala. In ways, while they were standing there, it was like everything was the same when they were in Tennessee. Of course, they both knew the truth. Things couldn't really be the same as three years ago. Maybe they could find common grounds, but there was no way that they were going to be like they once were. There were too many things distancing them now. "I guess I should get going so I can tell Michael that you'll have dinner with us at my place."

"Kenny…" Tala started as Kenny was turning away from him. The brunette looked at the red head, seeing something flitting within his eyes, before disappearing all together. "This doesn't mean that I've accepted him to make you happy, yet. I just want you to know that."

"I know Tala," Kenny nodded. "But I'm happy that you're willing to allow me happiness."

_**-oooo-**_

"The way you describe it, he must have been struggling with himself to tell you something else besides that," Oliver concluded, listening to what Kenny had to say. Moving from where he sat at his kitchen table, he went back to the stove to pour another cup of tea for his friend. Robert's eyes remained on Kenny, absorbing every thing that he said.

"What I have no idea of," Kenny sighed. "I'm just hoping that he doesn't decide to play the devil in disguise of an angel when he meets Michael. The last thing I need is my boyfriend to go running into the street in front of cars as a means to commit suicide."

"I doubt that's going to occur," Robert assured.

"You haven't seen Tala when he gets started," Kenny replied. "For what I've heard so far, he can be quite arrogant about things when he wants to be. Or times just a bit too dark for anyone's taste."

"But around you, he's as sweet as honey, isn't he?" Oliver questioned, walking back to the table and sitting the tea down in front of Kenny who thanked him for the tea. Raising the cup to his mouth, he allowed the sweet taste of honey and lemon play on the tip of his tongue before swallowing the warm, dark substance.

"There have been times where even I've felt the tip of that razor tongue," Kenny replied. "Of course, I've managed to counter it so that it doesn't cut me too deep. I guess that's why he always never stayed mad with me."

"I think he's going to behave," Robert offered. "If he loves you as much as you say he does, then he doesn't want to upset you in that manner. You have nothing to worry about, at least from my point of view."

"Mine also," Oliver agreed.

"I'm glad that someone thinks that this isn't going to be a disaster," Kenny smiled. "I can always count on the two of you to perk me up when I'm being pessimistic."

"Which is always," Robert point out.

"I concur again," Oliver smiled.

"Oh joy, some friends you two are. Remind me never to come to you about my problems again you'll probably thinking I'm over dramatizing them. Even if I was on fire and my skin was peeling away to reveal the roasting meat underneath."

"You make that sound delicious," Robert thought.

"I bet you two would feast on my roasting meat, wouldn't you?" Kenny said.

"You're the one making it sound delicious, who are we to waste a friend?" Oliver smiled. "I happen to know a wonderful cream sauce which could possibly go well with your body."

"You know…cannibalism is illegal," Kenny reminded.

"In most places," Robert corrected.

"Besides, no one has to know," Oliver smiled.

"Okay, I think I'm leaving now," Kenny said, finishing off his tea and standing up from where he was seated, keeping his eyes on both his friends, though he knew they wouldn't make their threats true. "Oh yes, before you kill, roast, and serve me up with any kind of side dish, I think Mr. Jurgen would appreciate my latest installation to my story." Pulling out the small bundle of pages that were bound.

"I think we should hold off with dining on his body," Robert said, taking the small bundle that Kenny held out to him. "Am I correct to assume that it contains the next four chapters?"

"You are correct to assume, but you're definitely not right. Before I knew that my body was going to be cannibalize by the two of you, I went ahead and finished out the last chapter I wrote and added in two more chapters, for a total of five angst and fun filled chapters for you," Kenny remarked. "Now, you can go with the roasting and whatnot."

"No, no, I think we're going to save you until you finish writing this story, then you can be roasted and whatnot all you want," Robert teased.

"Oh joy," Kenny cheered sarcastically. "Guess I'll have to get the spit ready in a couple of months then."

"I guess you will," Oliver said. "Didn't you have somewhere to go?"

"Trying to kick me out now?" Kenny raised a brow at his friend.

"Of course not. But I think that it would benefit you if you would tell your boyfriend about your plans?" Robert suggested.

"Yeah, I guess I should get going, I have a few things I need to do before tonight," Kenny said. "Thanks for listening to me when I need someone besides Kain and Rei. I'm glad to have friends like you."

"We're welcome to be friends you want to confine in," Oliver responded. "Now you should get going so you can have time to prepare for your dinner."

"Or prepare for a funeral," Kenny sighed, thought he knew that it wouldn't be the death of him yet. At least he hoped not.

_**-oooo-**_

Professor Lashley looked up from his Thursday morning psychology classes papers to find his favorite student, standing in front of his desk looking slightly worried. Putting down the pen he was using to write a comment on the reference page of the twenty page paper. A frown appeared between his brows as he took off the reading glasses to stare at Tyson.

"Is there something wrong, Tyson?" Professor Lashley questioned.

"I just…I wanted to ask you something, if you had a minute," Tyson said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pullover.

"Of course I have a minute for you. You're my favorite student of all time, after all. You know I try to get more students to follow your example, but I fear that none of them will live up to the expectations which I see you're going to give me," Professor Lashley smiled. "So, what can I do for you, my young apprentice."

"I thought I was your protégé?" Tyson teased.

"That you are," Professor Lashley nodded. "So what did you need to speak to me about?"

"Well, I just wanted to know a generalized question," Tyson responded.

"All right, go ahead and ask me then," Professor Lashley remarked.

"Well, when someone dies, usually there's a coroner or medical examiner there to state the time of death and the cause of it. Or at least a diagnosis to what could have possibly cause the death, am I right?" Tyson questioned.

"Are you trying to go into forensics instead of psychology?" Professor Lashley questioned.

"No," Tyson shook his head, a short smile etching its way across Tyson's lips. "I was just thinking about stuff. And I came across something in my memory that came off as odd to me. So I wanted to ask another person's opinion. You were the only person that I know that I can get a straight answer out of when it comes to things without you being biased."

"I'm honored that you think about my opinion in that fashion, Tyson," Professor Lashley smiled. "So, what was going through that head of yours to make you ask me that question?"

"Well." Tyson bit his bottom lip, chewing on the piece of flesh for a moment, then looked at the man. "I was just thinking about three years ago. The bodies of Kai Hiwatari and Tala Ivanov were taken to back to Russia, but there was no report from the town doctor to say they were dead. There is always a coroner or medical examiner called in to confirm these things, but in this case, there was not one. Besides, if they were really found in a ditch, how is it that there was no police statements within the paper. Who found them? It should have made the paper."

"Not unless the family requested the story not be ran for purposes that it would ruin their reputation," Professor Lashley responded easily, having talked the boy through some of the worst parts of his depression when Tyson one day broke down after class, telling the man about what he had went through. "I'm think there is a purpose behind bringing this up again?"

"Actually, there is," Tyson said. "Not too long ago, I discovered from my cousin that they weren't dead. I'm happy that they are alive, but it's nagging me…why were they gone for so long without contact? Why is it, that if they were alive, we were told different? Half of the things that I'm thinking, they're contradicted by other things."

"Have you considered that the family wanted to cover up the incident until it passed over?" Professor Lashley suggested.

"I thought about that plenty of times, but still their bodies had to be found by someone. Most of their family lives all over the states, so for a few days, they should have been spotted by someone, who then contacted the family. Many of the maids got out of the house, so everyone in town knew…it doesn't make sense that--well," Tyson said, feeling tears burn the back of his eyes.

"Tyson you don't have to force yourself to think about what happened," Professor Lashley stated. "I have an idea what you're talking about. The only thing I can come up with for you, is that more happened between them, than you know right now."

"I know, and they aren't willing to tell right now. Things are really complicated for me," Tyson replied running a hand through his hair. "I guess that when I go visit my friend, I can ask his mother about what she knows about Kai and--"

"Tyson." The bluenette turned around, hearing his name called by his boyfriend. The green eyed man had his arms crossed over each other. His eyes were flared, a look Tyson didn't recognized due to the fact he never really saw Ozuma angry.

"Um, I guess I should get going, Professor Lashley. I have to get to work tonight. I just stopped by to ask your opinion. I'll let you know what I found out when I come back," Tyson said, bowing to the man before heading over to where Ozuma waited for him.

The brunette said nothing when Tyson reached him, he just turned, heading out the door, with Tyson following along. The two headed down the nearly empty hallway, out to the student parking lot, not a word passing between them. The silence between them was unsettled, leaving Tyson with a feeling that he had done something to upset his boyfriend, but when he thought about it, there was nothing he could think of that could have possibly set Ozuma off to give him the cold shoulder.

Slipping into the passenger's seat, Tyson uncomfortably shifted in the chair when Ozuma pulled out his keys and started up the car. Fastening his seatbelt, Tyson glanced over at his boyfriend, seeing the way his eyes focused on the road, as if Tyson wasn't sitting beside him.

"Ozuma…"

Tyson got no answer from Ozuma who continued to drive. Chewing on his bottom lip, Tyson decided to try once more to rouse a response from the other.

"Ozuma, is there something on your mind?" Tyson pondered.

"No…" Ozuma said, his eyes remaining on the road.

"Are you sure?" Tyson said.

"I said that I'm sure," Ozuma said, a bit out harshly. The remark caused Tyson to flinch from the biting tone. He settled into silence, allowing Ozuma to remain in his world of grumpiness. After a while, the brunette decided he wanted to say something. An aqua eye turned to Tyson, studying him lightly. "Why didn't you tell me that you were going away? So, when are you leaving?"

"This weekend," Tyson said.

"How is it that I'm just finding out?" Ozuma questioned.

"I was going to tell you later tonight," Tyson voiced.

"So, where are you going?" Ozuma asked.

"My friend's birthday is this weekend. I was going down to Georgia to visit him and help him celebrate. Kenny's coming along with me, because it's been a while since he's seen them too, and my other friends who go to school in West Virginia are coming down also. It's going to be the first time in a while that we've all seen each other," Tyson smiled, thinking about Zeo, Max, his cousin Emily, and Johnny.

"Are you going to tell that guy?" Ozuma wondered.

"Kai?" Tyson blinked. "No, he never got along with any of my friends. He and Tala weren't really the favorites in town, after all."

"So, he's not going with you?"

"Of course not," Tyson replied. "It would not be a good idea for Kai or Tala to come with us. They were thought to be dead, but being alive would cause a few issues. I think telling everyone they're alive, rather than bringing them out of the blue would be best."

"So you did plan on taking him?"

"No, I didn't," Tyson replied. "I haven't told him I'm going to visit Max and the others. I haven't talked to him, and from what I heard from Kenny, he's too busy working to come see me." Ozuma said nothing, instead, he seemed to shell himself away from Tyson and continued driving. Frustrated by the treatment he was receiving, he decided to let it go. It wasn't going to get him anywhere to probe Ozuma's mood while he was in it. He just hoped that whatever was eating at his boyfriend would clear by the time he came back from his trip.

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: Oh my god…I'm finally done with this chapter! I thought I would never end it! And I've did the whole last few pages to angst music, so blame the music for the words that came out. Well, my first update in like forever, I hope you people like how long the chapter turned out to be. Maybe if I keep going like this, the chapters will remain long up to the final chapter of the story. Well, let me stop talking and let you all review.


	19. Chapter 19

Rim: I think it's about time I get back to work on this story, after stalling for about three months, or so. Now, before I begin…I must address this from a review that I recently received. It's just been bugging me since I read it. So, here it is…to that nice reviewer…yes, Oleander did have somewhat of an open ending, but you must remember, the space between me writing Oleander and writing Aster, Tala and Kai were thought to be dead in a ditch. It was stated in the first chapter of Aster Fall that Tyson and Kenny believed those two to be dead for over a three year basis.

It wasn't because they got tired of waiting for Tala and Kai. In fact, Kenny was hesitant to get back into a relationship because of feeling like he was betraying Tala. Nor do I believe that Tyson and Kenny consider the sun shines and rain pours for them whenever they want. They love Kai and Tala still, but they also love their new boyfriends too. It's playing tug of war with their heart and feelings, and knows what it must be doing to Tala and Kai. They are trying to work through the tangles in their heart, considering you don't really expect people you thought were dead to come back after three years. I doubt anyone can just drop their lives like that no matter what. I don't know if you missed that part at the beginning, but I can assure you that Tyson and Kenny aren't being heartless bastards to the people they love.

_**-oooooo-**_

"You're doing what?" Tyson said, astonishment coloring his words. Kenny shifted the cordless phone from his left shoulder and ear to the right one, turning from where he stood looking into the cabinets for parmesan to check on the pasta boiling in the pot on the stove. In a separate sauce pan he had his pasta sauce and Italian sausage simmering. Not too long ago, he finished making his grandmother's recipe for homemade Kaiser rolls.

"I'm cooking dinner for Michael, Tala, and myself, is there something wrong with that?" Kenny said, walking back over to where his pasta was. It was almost time for him to strain it. Turning his eyes on the clock situated on the wall, it read a little after seven thirty. Michael, would probably arrive a little before eight, he just hoped that Tala didn't have misgivings about doing this. The last thing he wanted was for Tala to be uncomfortable being around Michael.

"Okay, I did hear you right," Tyson said. "I just can't believe what possessed you to get them in the same room together for dinner. It's like adding gas to a bonfire."

"Tala promised he would behave," Kenny stated.

"Tala Ivanov behave?" The astonishment was well replaced with what Kenny recognized quickly as humor, shock, and disbelief. "Are you sure we're talking about the same Tala Ivanov? The exact same one who once tried to smoke his way to cancer in a day's time when Rei answered the phone and thought you were cheating on him with Kain? We're talking about that same Tala Ivanov, ne?"

"Tyson," Kenny sighed.

"What? I was just making sure that we're talking about the same one?" Tyson said. Kenny could just imagine the shrug his cousin pulled off while answering. "He did nearly have his way with you in a car, if I do recall someone telling me."

"You didn't have to bring that point up," Kenny frowned.

"Well, I just thought you needed to be reminded of that little note, my dear cousin," Tyson said, Kenny picturing another shrug coming from his cousin.

"Well, thanks for the unwelcome thought," Kenny grounded out. "You aren't making me feel like this is for the best."

"Well, I'm just saying…" Tyson began.

"If you had the chance, would you pass it up?" Kenny interrupted. Tyson fell silent the noise on the other end was all that told Kenny that his cousin hadn't hung up. Taking the opportunity from his cousin's contesting of his idea, Kenny went over and stirred his sauce, so it wouldn't stick to the saucepan.

"I guess…if it came down to it, I would do the same thing," Tyson finally answered a minute later. "However, Kai isn't as tamed as Tala. He would never sit through dinner silently without one smart comment to make Ozuma want to hop across the table and fight him. It's going to be interesting if Tala actually behaves."

"He will. I asked him to, and he promised he would," Kenny argued.

"Well, in case of emergency, I'll have an ambulance on speed dial for you," Tyson said, humor settling into his tone. "I'm sure that between screaming about someone being stabbed with a steak knife and stopping murder, you're not going to be in your right mind to call for an ambulance and police to bring you a taser."

"You know…" Kenny started.

"I'm not funny," Tyson finished. Kenny opened his mouth then closed it. The frown in between his brows twitched, Tyson on the other end chuckling. "I'm sorry you know that I'm just joking with you. Stop frowning at me over the phone."

"How do you know I'm frowning at you?" Kenny questioned.

"I didn't, but I guess. Now I know for sure that you're frowning at me," Tyson responded. "So, changing subject, are you ready for our trip?"

"Well, even if I'm not, I'm going to have to be," Kenny answered. "I've been wondered…have you talked to Max or Zeo lately and told them about our little situation. Max's mom is going to be there, so I figured if you told them, it would be a real relief on her to hear that Tala and Kai are still alive." Tyson fell silent again, mulling over the thought. Kenny walked over to the table, setting the table for his guests. Placing out the plates, silverware, glasses, and napkins, Kenny switched the position of the phone once more.

"I've thought about letting them know about these recent turn of events, but I think it's better if we do it face to face, especially telling Max's mom what we know so far," Tyson commented.

"That's not much," Kenny sighed.

"I know." Tyson matched his cousin's sigh with one of his own, wondering when Kai and Tala would let them in. He understood with the circumstances now that they were reluctant, but the two had to open up to someone. Even if it wasn't them, both would feel better that Tala and Kai weren't keeping it bottled away? Tyson had yet to see the haunted eyes, but from what he heard from his cousin, he doubted he ever wanted to see that.

"Let's change the subject again, it's too depressing to think about it right now," Kenny suggested.

"I agree," Tyson remarked. "Oh, and to answer your question I spoke with Max and Zeo the other day, and Max seemed to be bouncing off the walls to see you again, it's been a while after all. Zeo literally had to tie him down to the chair to keep him from bouncing around."

"It'll be nice to see Max again also it definitely has been a while. I think I'm even ready to see Emily, which I never thought I would say," Kenny replied. "Do we know for sure that Jordan and the others will be there?"

"It wouldn't be a party if anyone was missing, even Lee." Kenny almost chuckled hearing the annoyed undertones in his cousin's voice. He couldn't believe that after all this time he still hadn't forgiven the poor guy for taking Mariah. It certainly was going to be an interesting reunion indeed.

"You shouldn't be so hard on Lee. He had no idea, besides I thought Mariah thought of you more as a sister than anything else?" Kenny teased.

"Yeah, she--hey wait!" Tyson exclaimed.

"Just caught on to what I said, ne?" Kenny laughed. "You know I'm just joking with you, don't you Tyson?"

"Oh, so it's payback now?" Tyson chuckled. "Fine, I guess I did deserve that. So, now we're even. I won't joke anymore about Tala being tasered and you won't mention Mariah regarding me as a sister, do we have a deal?"

"It's a deal, though I can just see you in a--"

"Shush!" Tyson ordered.

"All right, I'll call a truce this time," Kenny smiled. "You know, maybe Kai would appreciate if you paid him a visit to where his work. I have the directions if you want to drop by and surprise him. I'm sure that he wouldn't turn you away."

"You're probably right," Tyson agreed. "However, I don't know if it would be a good thing to do. Ozuma and I aren't seeing eye to eye with things, and that could just set him off. I want to settle things with Ozuma before I tackle Kai."

"That's reasonable I guess it's a blessing I don't have to deal with that sort of situation right now. When Michael meets him tonight, this is going to really be the test to see whether or not this is going to work." Worry began bubbling up, thinking about what could possibly happen at tonight's dinner. The thought of a fight was far from his mind; however Michael becoming jealous or possessive of him was a very real problem that might come to light after this meeting.

"I can feel where you're coming from," Tyson sympathized. "Well, I'll let you go back to fixing your dinner now. My break's about ready to end soon, so I must head back to work."

"Don't work too hard."

"I won't mother," Tyson chimed with another laugh before hanging up. Kenny stared at the phone when he cut it off then shook his head. Placing it back on the receiver on the wall, Kenny was about to turn about to check on his pasta when the doorbell rung. Turning down the heat on the boiling pot, he left the kitchen, heading for the door. He was nervous as to which one would arrive first. If it was Tala and he discovered that Michael wasn't there yet, Tala might get the notion to call an open season on seducing him. Praying to God that he could avoid that scenario, he opened the door, sighing with relief when he saw Michael.

"I see someone doesn't want me to be here," Michael teased, leaning down to peck Kenny on the lips. "Were you expecting someone else to be behind this door?"

"I was hoping you would be first," Kenny sighed again.

"Oh, might I ask why?" Michael questioned.

"The scenario of Tala trying to seduce me came to mind, and I was dreading him being at the door. However, I'm glad that you're here to meet him first, instead of the other way around," Kenny explained, stepping to the side to allow Michael's entrance into the house.

"He can't be that bad," Michael said walking in, taking off the coat he wore to hang it on the coat rack by the door. Leaning down to brush the snow off his shoes before moving, he stood; a grin being his welcome to Kenny, who returned the smile before letting it drop.

"Oh, you don't know how wrong you are," Kenny shook his head, closing the door. Leading the red head back to the kitchen where his pasta was boiling, Kenny cut off the stove. "When you meet Tala, you'll understand what I mean."

"I'm sure he isn't that bad, you have to be exaggerating," Michael smiled.

"You forget, I was the one that fell in love with him, I should know about his faults and good points. Take my word for it," Kenny said, moving to the stove.

"Let me take that off for you," Michael offered, getting the pot holders from the kitchen drawer by the stove. Grabbing hold of the pot, he easily moved to the strainer attached to the sink. Pouring the pasta through the strainer, Michael turned his attention back to Kenny. "All right, I will take your judgment when you tell me that he's not as nice as I'm hoping he'll be."

"I don't mean to make him sound like a bad guy, I just didn't want you to be caught off guard when you met him," Kenny said. "He's actually a great person to get along with, however in this situation, you're his enemy. Though he promised to behave, he still might make a comment or two that might not sit well with you."

"I can believe it, I'm his rival for your love after all," Michael said.

"Are you ready for this?" Kenny questioned, raising his eyes to Michael, he watched the red head lean down and kiss him on the forehead. The soft lips moved down, placing a kiss between his brows, continuing to move down to the tip of his nose, until he made it to Kenny's lips. Lightly nipping on the bottom lip to get Kenny to open his mouth, Michael smiled, hearing the soft moan escape his boyfriend's lips.

"I'm ready if you are," Michael pulled back, staring down at Kenny. "If you're certain that you can handle this, then I'm fine with it."

"Michael," Kenny murmured. "I don't know what I would do without you sometimes."

"Does go insane say much?" Michael teased.

"You keep that up, and I'm going to let him stab you with a steak knife, and I'm not going to call the police to bring a taser to stop him either," Kenny frowned, staring up at Michael who blinked for a long second.

"You've been talking to Tyson again, haven't you?" Michael grinned.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Kenny questioned, raising a brow.

"Because that sounds like something Tyson would say," Michael remarked. "So, do you want me to finish helping you fix dinner, or should I just answer the door with a steak knife when he arrives so he can decide whether to stab me now or later?"

"Tough call," Kenny thought, before nodding towards the doorbell that rung. "I think I'm going to have you risk your life. Just leave the steak knife with me. Presenting him with sharp, shiny, pointy objects might be too tempting for him to resist using. Oh, and one more thing. Don't make any sudden movements or gestures, avert your eyes, or let him smell fear when you greet him."

"You make him sound like a wild animal," Michael said, feeling a bead of sweat roll down his cheek as he headed out the kitchen. Strolling back to the door he just entered only minutes ago, he pulled it open, finding another red head about his height, if not an inch or two shorter standing behind the door dressed in a fairly heavy charcoal colored winter coat which stopped just below his waist. His hands were shoved into his coat pockets as he waited outside. Azure eyes focused in on them, and Michael swore that they flashed with an indistinctive emotion.

"So, you're the one," the other red head said, tilting his head to the side, a loose bang sliding over his eye. Brushing it behind his ear, Tala let his eyes break from Michael.

"Come in," Michael said, moving from the entrance to admit the other's passage into the house.

Tala walked in, unbuttoning his coat, and shrugging it off to hang it on the coat rack. Stepping away from the rack, Tala scanned the living room looking for Kenny's presence. Michael figured it was only natural to be a little uneasy around him seeing as how he was now with Kenny, so he pushed aside his offense, chalking it up to the red head not knowing what to think of him. He definitely could see why anyone would like this guy, even Michael had to admit his boyfriend's ex was something of eye candy, down to the long lashes over those brilliantly colored icy eyes.

"I never thought I would see the day that you, wore a tie," Kenny grinned from the doorway of the kitchen. Entering the room, he approached Tala, studying the black slacks coupled with a wine colored dress shirt and black tie. "This is definitely a treat for me, so did Kai have to help you tie it, you don't seem like a tie person."

"Yeah," Tala nodded, lifting his hands to loosen the object from around his throat. "I didn't know what to where, so I asked Kai's opinion. He picked this out for me."

"You look nice," Kenny complimented with a smile. "Not to mention you have your hair in a ponytail. I thought that was my trademark."

"I stole it from you," Tala grinned slowly, his eyes warming up to Kenny.

"So I see," Kenny teased. "I see I'm going to have to reclaim my ponytail title from you. You look far too good especially with what you're wearing."

"Thanks," Tala said, momentarily shifting an eye to where Michael was to find the other red head watching him. Narrowing his eyes whilst averting his gaze, he focused back in on Kenny. "Anyway, I doubt coming dressed in some black leather pants, trench coat, and a mesh tee was the best choice of something to wear from dinner. The ponytail would have only made my sex appeal that much more obvious."

"Tala," Kenny chided, knowing what the red head was going for. Shifting his glance to Michael, the brunette only found a smile on his lips. Either he was too amused to be offended by the remark, or it went over his head completely.

"I would have to agree with you," Michael nodded in agreement to Tala's statement. "If you had walked in dressed like that, I might have begun hitting on you and risk being stabbed with a steak knife by a certain someone we know." Michael winked Kenny, who didn't know the comment was genius or hazardous in this situation.

"I'm going to finish getting dinner ready can I have you both behave yourselves until I call you to dinner?" Kenny wondered, turning his eyes from Michael to Tala. Turning away from the two of them, he just prayed that he was able to finish dinner without anything going array. Walking back into the kitchen, Kenny went back to preparing dinner, leaving Michael alone with Tala. Michael studied Tala, who in turn eyed him with a hint of immediate dislike.

'_So much for the two of us starting off on the right foot. He's already made up his mind that he's not going to like me, but keep it quiet for Kenny's sake._' Michael thought as Tala walked over to the couch and seated himself. Michael took a chair, staring at Tala for a long second, eventually turning his eyes away.

"He said we were a lot alike, other than we've both been with him, I don't see what he sees," Tala voiced, loosening the tie even more to give him the look of a man who dared someone to question why he wore a tie if he didn't wear it properly. Michael felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards, taking the other's words in.

"Well, we're both red heads," he added.

"That's obvious," Tala rolled his eyes. "If we were going on physical appearances alone, it would stop there, and this conversation would be over."

"I guess you're right," Michael chuckled. "But, in order to find out what we have in common, that would suggest we would actually have to talk and get to know each other. I personally have no objections against that when I said yes to dinner with you. We both want Kenny's well being in this, so how about we try to get along some? At least for this dinner?"

"I promised Kenny I would behave, so I'll try to restrain myself from any unnecessary comments that might piss you off," Tala stated, mulling over what the other red head said. Azure eyes met the darker shade of blue, studying Michael. "That doesn't mean that I still like you anymore than for Kenny's sake."

"That's completely understandable," Michael nodded. "I guess we should start with introductions then. My name is Michael Laytner. I'm a college sophomore at the same college Kenny's attending."

"I'm Tala Ivanov," Tala responded.

"Ivanov…that sounds like a Slavic last name. Where are you originally from?" Michael questioned.

"I was raised here in the States, but my mother lived in Moscow with my uncle for a few years before coming to America later. My father's parents originally come from Siberia," Tala spoke.

"I'm assuming that your grandparents brought your father over some time later. So, how did your parents meet?" Michael asked.

"Don't remember," Tala shrugged. "It's not something that has been discussed a lot when I was growing up."

"Sounds like when I was growing up. You never expect to here from your mom that the first time she met your father was at a bar, and took him home as a pity screw, only to like waking up to him every morning and marry half a year later after a bunch of one night stands. It's a wonder their marriage didn't end sooner before I was ten. Guess my old man like the income too much to leave right away, because there was no way he loved her enough to try to make it work," Michael declared.

"Someone sounds bitter," Tala raised a brow.

"Bitter? No way, I still liked my old man well enough, even with him cheating on my mom. Though in my mom's defense, she was cheating on him at the same time. Miserable together, yet happier when they didn't have to see each other with me watching everything going on from the sidelines. I'm shocked that I'm not as promiscuous as either one of them before my mother remarried," Michael chuckled thinking about growing up with his folks.

"My parents were nothing like that thankfully," Tala found himself saying, wondering why he was bothering other than for Kenny's sake. In a way, he could see himself in this other red head. They might have grown up in different atmospheres, yet it was uncanny with the links he could easily form if they kept talking.

"You're an only child too, aren't you?" Michael wondered. "They must have spoiled the crap out of you growing up. It's easy to see they love you to death."

"How so?"

"You haven't said much about them, but what you have spoken only says that you consider them the best parents in the world. You appreciate everything they've done for you, and thankful to have been raised by them."

"Kenny didn't tell you much about me did he?" Tala questioned. Had Kenny told this red head everything which happened three years ago, he wouldn't be playing this little 'let's get to know each other' game he was insisting on. He would know that Tala's parents weren't around, and he was raised by his bastard of an uncle and mentally unstable aunt who molested him throughout his childhood until his mind was so wrapped by it, he began her little puppet. There would be no reason behind this, unless he was more of a prick than Tala thought.

"The only thing Kenny told me about you, besides the fact he thought we were a lot alike, was that you, your cousin, him, and Tyson were going to live together after he graduated, and you were going to move up here from Tennessee, but your uncle went crazy and everyone thought he had shot you and your cousin to death and then killed himself," Michael responded. "Other than that, I know nothing else about you. Kenny isn't the type of person to tell someone else's life story for them if he feels it's too private."

"You have a point," Tala agreed hesitantly.

"I doubt that you're going to share that with me, are you?" Michael wondered.

"I don't like you enough to tell you something like that," Tala pointed out.

"And I'm sure you aren't going to give up Kenny easily will you?" Michael added in.

"You're not just a pretty face after all," Tala smirked, his trademark wolfish grin showing through. Michael was finding they had more in common than either would openly admit. It was definitely a shame they were rivals, he would otherwise make a great drinking and hanging buddy under other terms.

"Are you two getting along and not trying to kill each other in my absence?" Kenny walked into the room, wiping his hands on a hand towel.

"We're playing nicely," Michael grinned. "Is dinner ready yet?"

"I have everything set on the table if you want to come eat," Kenny smiled, thankful one of the two red heads weren't dead on the floor. Kenny watched Michael getting up from his seat, heading for the kitchen, leaving Kenny alone in the room with Tala. He immediately found azure eyes pinning him in place. "Tala…"

"I can see why you like him," Tala interrupted. "He's the kind of person I wouldn't mind having a drink with under other circumstances. That doesn't mean that I will be chummy with him, and not mind him being with you. You belong to me rightfully."

"Tala, I don't belong to anyone," Kenny stated, his voice lowering to a softer tone. "Nor do I belong to Michael. So please, don't say things like that to me. I want us to have a nice dinner, so please don't do this tonight. You promised me, remember?"

"No, I haven't forgotten my promise to you, I still vow to keep it, but it's so much harder when you leave me to get to know him. It's becoming harder for me to keep my tongue, but I'm going to," Tala replied.

"You're holding your tongue about this, but you're perfectly fine not telling me what happened and why you disappeared three years ago," Kenny let slip before he could stop it. Realizing what he just said, he opened his mouth to say sorry when he caught the haunted look deep in Tala's eyes before he averted them. He shouldn't have brought that up, not now, but so close to seeing everyone again, he couldn't help it. "Tyson and I plan to go visit everyone soon, Max's mother will probably be there, and we're going to tell her that you and Kai are alive."

"She'll be thrilled then," Tala stated, his voice growing dull.

"Don't shut me out Tala," Kenny pleaded softly. "I'm not going to say another word about it, but please, let me know one day. Come on let's go to dinner before we're too angst-ridden to enjoy the meal I prepared."

"You always do that to me." Tala looked at Kenny. "I can never stay mad at you, all because of those blue eyes staring at me like that. You win again this time…I promise, when you get back from your trip, I'll tell you."

"You aren't going to back out of it are you?" Kenny asked.

"I made you a promise, have I ever broke it?" Tala smiled, getting up to walk over to the brunette. Stopping inches in front of him, he stared down into the blue eyes that still captured his heart no matter the amount of time since the first second they crossed paths.

"No, you haven't," Kenny shook his head.

"Then still believe in me," Tala spoke. "Let's go have dinner now before your boyfriend believes I've kidnapped you upstairs to the bedroom."

"Don't get any bright ideas," Kenny warned as mischief flitted within Tala's azure depths. "You know, speed dial is on my side tonight."

"What does speed dial have to do with anything?" Tala raised a brow.

"Everything," Kenny exclaimed. Tala opened his mouth to speak, and then thought better of questioning the brunette. Knowing him, it was something involving his stupid cousin, and when Tyson was involved, Tala wanted to leave all else alone.

_**-ooo-**_

Tala closed the door to his house, the silence of the place almost creeping him out. Searching around for a speck of light, he found none, not even the soft glow of a night light they kept on at times during the night. A chill crept up Tala's spine, seizing him with fear as he backed away from the darkness, trying to escape it. Closing his eyes, he tried to banish the thoughts threatening to take over. Drawing his mind back to another place he didn't want to go, but was forced to, by his subconscious.

"_You're staying in here now!" The figure with the gruff voice ordered, shoving Tala into the dark room. Of course, it could be the fact that it was night now, and a lot of whirlwind events happened before this. His mind still tried to process what happened in a matter of brief minutes. Turning around to bang on the door, he tried the doorknob. The icy object in his palm sent a shock of reality into his system, finding that it would not budge._

"_What about Kai! What are you doing to Kai?" Tala shouted, hoping to receive an answer, even a threatening one for not being silent. He had to find out where he cousin was. "Answer me! What do you plan to do with Kai?" _

_Silence barracked him in, his pounding echoing off the walls of the old empty hallway. Time slowly grounded itself to a halt, trapping him within another space separate from the outside world. However long his pound persisted remained rivaled by the silence on the other side of the door. Eventually when his fists were too numb and sore to remain pounding on the hard oak wood, Tala wheeled back away from the door, to study his surroundings in hope that he could find a way out to look for Kai._

_Roaming his eyes over the darkened shadows in the room, he put his hands out in front of him, feeling for a table or desk; anything that might contain a small lamp of some sort. Shuffling forward, he prayed they hadn't left him in such a dark, dank smelling place with no lights. He had no problem with the dark, but being in a new environment he wasn't accustomed to caused paranoia to hang above his head, pressing down on him relentlessly._

"_Lamp…there has to be one…there has to be…" he mumbled to himself, moving to the wall, searching for a light switch he had yet to find. Panic clawed at him, his search speeding up at the level of hysteria slowly rising. "Why don't I feel one…why…?"_

"Tala! Tala, look at me!"

"It's dark," Tala whispered gasping for air as a panic attack squeezed all breath from his lungs.

"Tala, look at me! It's not dark!" Kai said trying to pull his cousin from the corner he had backed himself into. Kai turned his cousin's face to him, hoping the out of focused blue eyes might lock onto him. Having forgotten to leave a light on for his cousin, Kai just came back downstairs only to discover Tala suffering from a panic attack in the corner.

"Kai…" Tala gripped his cousin, blinking a couple of times.

"Come on back around," Kai said softly.

"I…" Tala started, the panic slowly dying down.

"You okay? You haven't suffered anything like this in a while? Something happen tonight?" Kai helped Tala stand from the huddled crouch his body regressed to. Tala leaned wearily against Kai, who supported his weight. Navigating them to the kitchen, Kai flipped on the light switch, making his way over to the table.

Tala was barely aware of his feet moving coming out of his fear stupor. By the time it hit him, he was at the table, a glass of water was sitting in front of him. Tilting his head to the side, he caught the concern flickering in Kai's auburn eyes. Lowering his eyes to the glass of water, he blinked as a pill bottom all but materialized beside it. Continuing to stare amazingly at it, his brain finally registered Kai had seat it on the table when he placed the glass in front of him.

"It might help," Kai suggested, breaking the silence. "So, tell me, what happened. And don't tell me nothing you bastard. Panic attacks like that don't just spring up for no reason."

"I'm--"

"You're not fine," Kai interrupted. "Do I have to remind you I just pulled you out of the corner while you were hyperventilating up a lung? Either you tell me what it was, or I will beat the living hell out of you until otherwise."

"That's not necessary," Tala muttered.

"Then?" Kai interrogated. "It involves a certain brunette and a certain event you dressed up for?"

"Yeah," Tala nodded.

"How did it go with that? Did you run the boyfriend off, making him never want to come back anywhere close to you or Kenny?"

"No," Tala shook his head.

"No?" Kai blinked. "Wasn't that your initial plan to begin with on a subtle level. What changed your mind from doing it?"

"He's the type of person I would hang out with under other circumstances," Tala murmured. "I wasn't expecting him to be someone like that. It caught me off guard. You have it much easier with Tyson's boyfriend."

"You mean to tell me you didn't rattle him one bit?" Kai blinked incredulously. "You're losing your touch Tala. Will I have to reeducate you on the finer points of pissing off the masses?"

"Shut your damn mouth," Tala glowered. "I told you, he's someone that I wasn't expecting to come up against. Even if I rattled him, he didn't show signs of it, all night. I even talked about the first time with Kenny in bed. Needless to say, that nearly got me a plate of pasta dumped on my head."

"Well, you did disclose something private I doubt Kenny wanted you to share with the world," Kai shook his head, the corner of his mouth twitching with a smile. "I'm guessing that's not what brought on the panic attack, so how about we get down to the core of the matter? What happened to trigger it?"

Tala combed a hand through his hair, taking the clear rubber band from holding his hair in its ponytail. His hair tumbled down his neck, draping over his shoulders and laying against his shoulder blades. "Kenny said he and Tyson are taking a trip soon to meet up with Tyson's old pals back in Tennessee. Judy's likely going to be there."

"What does their trip to see Max and the others have to do with anything?" Kai frowned.

"Everything," Tala said. "Considering that I promised him I would tell him everything about why we didn't come back sooner if we were alive…"

"That's why you freaked out, you were thinking about what you were going to tell him." The two young men said nothing to each other for a minute, sinking into their thoughts of the past, present, and decisions that would shape the future.

"Maybe it's for the best," Kai spoke up finally. "They have a right to know. Maybe…it will not just ease their minds, but help them make a final decision."

"Is it the right choice? Do you really believe they can handle what we will tell them, Kai?" Tala shifted his eyes to his cousin, who stared at the table.

"We won't really know…at least until we tell them…"

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: I'm done…I can't believe I'm finally done with this chapter. Someone take me away to the mental institution now.


	20. Chapter 20

Rim: As I promised, the next chapter of Aster has been completed for the weekend. Yes, I know it took me long enough to get it down, that's only because of circumstances…as some people know. Well, I guess I shouldn't keep everyone waiting for this, so here we go. The next chapter freshly typed up and shipped out for your reading pleasure.

_**-oooooo-**_

Tyson stared out the airplane window, staring out over the view. In half an hour, the two of them would see everyone from Tennessee once again. It had been about three years since the incident, though they all kept in touch with each other up to now. It would be like old times once more. Not just that, he and Kenny were going to have to tell Max's mother what was going on. She had a right to know that Tala and Kai were still alive, but how was the question on his mind. Something happened three years ago, neither was willing to tell or speak of.

Glancing over to his left side, Tyson eyed his cousin who was practically folded in half. Had he known that his cousin was air sick, he would have booked seats near the bathroom. Traveling by plane never bother Tyson, he supposed that he was more excited about the trips ahead to be bothered by something as inconvenient as spewing up his digestive system.

"How are you holding up?" Tyson questioned his cousin, rubbing Kenny's back, who groaned in misery. "That doesn't exactly answer my question."

"Shut up…" Kenny whimpered, closing his eyes to stop the vertigo tossing him back and forth, threatening to heave up anything that was left in his stomach.

"You should have told me that you got air sick easily," Tyson said, continuing to rub his cousin's back. "I would have got us seats by the bathroom, so you could just die in there, instead of beside me."

"Shut up…" Kenny muttered. "If I didn't feel like I'm going to throw up my digestive track, I would kill you."

"In that state you can't kill anything," Tyson stated. "Just think, we have about half an hour, give or take before we land. If you can hold on until then, I'll let you kill me for it."

"I'm going to hold you to it," Kenny mumbled weakly. Tyson chuckled, turning his attention back to the outside. His thoughts wandered back to what could have happened to Tala and Kai. When he kept thinking about it, pieces stuck out of place, and some didn't fit with the story. How was it that the bodies were supposedly found in a ditch, nobody did an autopsy to figure out the cause of death, and how did Kai and Tala's family know to come get the bodies. Who contacted them?

Considering that line of thought how was the rest of the family in Russia notified about the deaths? Nobody but probably Boris had access to that information. Did the police ransack the house for evidence and information about how to contact the family to bury the bodies? Or was it that during the time Tala and Kai were missing, they contacted who they needed to come get them, and then it was all covered up by the police saying that Tala and Kai's bodies were found in a ditch dead? One of the biggest questions in Tyson's mind was why weren't they informed.

Three years passed for him and his cousin without word of that they survived. It wasn't like Kai, and it sure as hell wasn't like Tala to let them think something like this for so long. The first chance Kai would have gotten Tyson would have known that the two of them were alive. What happened to them to make calling impossible? Where were they all this time?

'Maybe they were in a position where they were cut off from the outside world,' Tyson's brain commented. Frowning, Tyson analyzed the thought in his mind, detaching his feelings from it, to think clearly. If he was going to be a psychiatrist in the near future, things like this would be necessary.

The first thing he needed to think about was what occurred. From what the reports he heard from Judy were, Boris went crazy and shot his wife, a maid, Tala and/or Kai, then himself. The possibility that both were shot was highly probable, however one of them could have been not as gravely injured to move their bodies from the house, dying in a ditch later from blood loss. The problem with that scenario was that if they were both shot, Boris would have made certain that they would never have been able to survive it.

The man had already shot and killed his wife and a maid. Why would he make a mistake by thinking the two were dead, then turning the gun on himself? Boris would have made certain that Kai and Tala were both dead by pumping more bullets into them; only afterwards committing suicide. Boris wasn't the type of man who was calm one minute, then a raging lunatic the next. He had reasons behind what he did, what they were only three people knew, two of which weren't speaking of it currently.

So Tyson was going to have to set that note to the side, and go back to the murder case itself, with a side note that Boris had a reason to kill his wife and try to kill Tala and Kai, instead of he went insane. Kai once told him that Boris took Tala in after his parents died. So it was a high chance that Tala was the victim of the shooting, Kai not being around, since for a while Kai was with him anyway then left to go find Tala. Kai must have arrived when Boris was going to kill Tala, and saved him. Either Kai killed Boris, or Tala did so before Kai arrived.

Tyson remembered that Judy said there was a trail of blood leading outside then disappeared from the area when she first announced the news of the murder. At the time, everyone figured that Boris dumped the bodies into the ditch then came back home and killed himself. Since Kai and Tala were still alive, Tyson had to reconsider that clue meant Kai came, dragged Tala from the scene, laying low somewhere since Tala was more than likely injured. So Kai must have made the call, their relatives covering up what happened, and taking Kai and Tala in until just recently.

Thinking about it from a logical stand point, if Tala was injured, and it would cause trouble for Max's mom, Kai would not go to her. If Tala wasn't as injured as Tyson thought, it could be taken wrong by the police in the area. Seeing as how the townspeople treated the two like black sheep, Tala and Kai might have been imprisoned for murder without hearing their stories. When it came down to it, the evidence against them was more on emotions rather than evidence of the crime. Now the real question here was what sort of situation were they put in when their "bodies" were supposedly taken back to Russia?

Tyson blinked as the seatbelt sign flashed overhead. Coming out of his thoughts, Tyson put on his seatbelt, looking over at his cousin. Kenny was still folded over. "Hey, you're going to have to sit up."

"If I sit up, I'm going to throw up," Kenny whined.

"We'll be on the ground in a few minutes, you can hold up until then, can't you?" Tyson questioned.

"No," Kenny stated.

"Well I'm going to need you to sit up, so we can put your seatbelt on," Tyson smiled sympathetically. "We'll be on the ground in no time. Then you can strangle me, stab me, or hug me all you want."

"I doubt the last one," Kenny commented, slowly sitting up from his folded up position. Tyson took his time to help his cousin with the seatbelt, though eyed his pasty faced cousin for a sign that he was going to blow at any time. Leaning back over into his seat, Tyson looked as they were slowly beginning to descend.

"I can't wait to see everyone," Tyson smiled.

"I thought you were nervous," Kenny said.

"Yeah, for telling Max's mom about things, but other than that, I can't wait to see everyone, even Lee." Tyson made a face; thinking about the guy who had stole Mariah away from him. Kenny gave a weak laugh at the statement.

"You never change sometimes."

"Yes I do," Tyson smiled. "I think that over the last few years, I've gotten to be wiser in lots of ways."

"You know that Max and Zeo aren't going to think that," Kenny smiled.

"Well, I will make them see that I've grown up," Tyson promised.

"I agree. You really have come a long way Tyson Kinomiya. It's scary sometimes to think about who you use to be, compared to who you are now. You still have your ways, but I think things have made you stronger," Kenny announced. "We've both become stronger, and I hope that I can continue to be stronger in the future to stand by Tala no matter what happens."

"When he tells you what happened three years ago?" After the dinner with Michael and Tala, Kenny told Tyson what happened, and the promise Tala made him about the secret he and Kai kept.

"Yes," Kenny nodded.

"Once we know, I think it might change everything," Tyson voiced.

"I think so too, that's why I want to be stronger for the future, when that change comes," Kenny agreed. Tyson silently agreed with Kenny. At the moment his situation with Ozuma was a small matter, when Kai came forward and told him everything, how was it going to affect the situation? Tyson would have to be ready for anything. The remaining minutes that they remained on the plane was kept in silence. Or rather Kenny trying to keep his stomach in place instead of on the floor of the plane.

When the plane finally landed and Kenny was safely in the airport's bathroom hurling up anything else that possibly was eaten in his lifetime, the nausea settled. Tyson waited outside the bathroom with their luggage, awaiting his cousin. Scanning the area for a sign of their friends, Tyson eventually spotted the huge sign that was being held up by a blonde bouncing up and down rapidly. Tyson laughed amusedly at the green haired young man beside the blonde, trying to calm him down.

"Max! Zeo!" Tyson waved from his spot by the bathroom to get their attention. Both heads' snapped into his general direction, Max's eyes lighting up as he shoved the sign into Zeo's hands and rushed at Tyson head on. Tyson back up against the wall preparing for the impact.

"Tyson!" Max said, people turning to look at him, as he pounced on Tyson. "Buddy! It's good to see you again! It's been like ages since we seen each other, look at you!"

"Get off me Max!" Tyson laughed, trying to pull the blonde away. "It's not like we've been out of contact for more than a few months, let go."

"No way! So where's Kenny? I don't see him with you," Max looked around for the brunette. "Did he stay in Massachusetts? I was really looking forward to seeing him."

"He's in the bathroom hopefully not dead," Tyson replied.

"Dead, why? What did you do to him Tyson Kinomiya?" Max voiced.

"Nothing! He's airsick!" Tyson said.

"I was feeling better, until I came out to screaming," Kenny said, standing beside Tyson, the color in his face had returned for the most part, but his stomach still felt queasy. "It's good to see you, Max, but please don't hop all over me, I don't think that I will be able to take it."

"Stomach still feeling like a bowl of Jell-o?" Tyson wondered, tilting his head to the side to stare at his cousin.

"Please don't mention food around me," Kenny begged. "I don't think my stomach can take any mention of anything right now."

"Poor Kenny," Zeo shook his head walking up. "It's nice to see you both again. How have things been going for you two?"

"Oh just fine, you haven't changed much, except you cut your hair!" Tyson said, noting the shorter ponytail his green headed friend was sporting. Walking up to Zeo, Tyson ruffled his hair, getting a protest out of Zeo. "And I'm still taller than you. You definitely need to grow more."

"Oh thank you very much, I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm growing," Zeo frowned at being teased. "We haven't been here more than five minutes together and you're already starting up. You never change."

"Yes I have," Tyson announced.

"What is Tyson proclaiming now?" Tyson turned his eyes to the red head walking up with Emily; following behind the two were Jordan and Mariah.

"Well, if it isn't Johnny McGregor," Tyson smirked.

"Tyson says he's changed," Max beamed.

"Oh god, the world is going to come to an end," Johnny stated in horror.

"Oh yeah, keep laughing it up funny man. I want you to know, I happen to be very smart and mature now. Not only that, I do well in school and I have a scholarship. Just you wait, I'm going to be your psychiatrist in a few years when you're going bald, and Emily's left you for some hot young tennis player. You're going to be depressed, fat, and on welfare, then you will see," Tyson laughed. "Who's going to be laughing then? Me with all the money, whose going to put you on a boatload of anti-depressants, or you whose going to be taking the anti-depressants?"

"Me, because you are never going to get out of school because you're dumber than a log," Johnny said. "Who in their right mind would give you a degree in anything other than stuffing your face?"

"What the hell did you just say to me?" Tyson glared.

"You heard me," Johnny retorted.

"And they get started," Jordan giggle, hopping over to where Kenny was with a smile, before throwing her arms around him. "Kenny! I'm glad you came with Tyson! I'm so happy to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too, Jordan," Kenny greeted. "You look well, how have you been getting along?"

"I'm fine, what about you? You're in college right now, aren't you? Did you have a fun trip here, you look sort of sick. Do airplanes make you airsick?" Jordan asked.

"In fact they do," Kenny announced.

"Are you in school right now?"

"Tyson and I go to the same college in fact with my other friends," Kenny responded.

"That must be loads of fun," Jordan thought with a large grin on her face. Kenny had to admit that seeing her bubbly face was a lift of spirits. Chuckling mentally at the memories of three years ago coming back to him, he found it ironic that her clinging to him no longer was bothersome. She was like a little sister that hadn't seen her big brother in a long time.

"It's fun when I'm not being pestered to death by my Kane, or drove up a wall by a few other friends of him," Kenny said, returning Jordan's hug and thinking about Oliver and Robert. "Right now, I'm working on getting a bachelor in English. And Tyson plans to get a degree in Psychology, if you can believe that."

"You would never expect something like that out of Tyson of all people," Zeo commented, turning his eyes on Tyson and Johnny looked ready to bash each other over the head with the luggage. "Especially when you see him like this."

"No kidding," Max nodded, releasing Tyson to watch the banter between Tyson and Johnny continue. "Either his patients are going to be happy to be cured to stop going to him, or he's going to become his own patient."

"Are you trying to start in on me too, Max?" Tyson questioned.

"No sir, I'm just a bystander," Max held up his hands with a friendly smile. "You can go back to glaring down Johnny I'm not saying a word."

"You better not," Tyson commented, glaring at Johnny once more.

"Now, now, let's not start this up so soon," Emily said, stepping in between the two friends who were glaring at each other. "I know you missed each other, but save some for later when you're all alone. Then you can molest each other with insults all night long."

"You know, for some reason, the way you said that…it's just not right," Mariah commented, stepping forward. "Tyson, it's good to see you again, and you also Kenny."

"It's nice to see you too, Mariah," Kenny nodded a warm welcome to her. "You seem to be in good spirits."

"Yep, I never felt better," Mariah grinned.

"Lee's not with you?" Tyson said, smiling warmly at his former crush. "And it's good to see you too, Riah. How has life been treating you?"

"Just fine, you know, Lee and I were planning on getting married in another year or so, I hope you're going to be down for the wedding. You're still not mad that he took me away from you, are you?" Mariah cocked her head to the side, her eyes playing with mischief.

"No, I'm fine with it now. Your happiness is all I've ever wanted," Tyson informed.

"That's sweet of you to say," Mariah said, hugging Tyson.

"Well, now that we've got our greetings out the way, and it's just like the old times when we were still a bunch of kids who had nothing better to do than hang around beyblading, how about we head back to let Kenny and mister professor in psychology here get some rest before we party," Johnny smiled.

"Someone tell me he isn't driving, because I would rather walk," Tyson voiced. "I don't want to be witness to any hit and runs, or running elderly people off the sidewalks into the street."

"You want to start with me again?" Johnny glared.

"Enough I said, I swear I don't know how you two managed to be friends," Emily shook her head, pushing them towards the airport exit.

_**-oooo-**_

"Kenny?" Tyson placed a hand on his friend's shoulder from where Kenny was standing at the window, staring out blankly at the scenery. The brunette immediately responded to his name being called, turning to look at his cousin, noting the worry in his face. Kenny allowed a smile of reassure to cross his face.

Tyson sighed in relief that dark thoughts weren't settling in the brunette's mind. When he first told Kenny about the change of plans with coming back to Tennessee for Zeo's birthday party, he was certain Kenny would decline. After all, this was the place it all started, to be brought back here during this time in there lives was both a step of courage and a step of risks. There was no guarantee that it would be too much for either. However Kenny proclaimed if he couldn't get over this hump in his life, he wouldn't be able to discover what Tala hid from him.

Coming back almost meant they would face Judy. No matter how prepared they were to tell her everything, they had no clue how she would react to the news. Before telling anyone else, they needed to clear things with Judy first. Max, Zeo, and the others would only complicate matters more with questions they (Tyson and Kenny) would not be able to answer. At least when they told Judy, she could calmly assess the situation, maybe give them her own feedback and opinion.

"What do you think she's going to say?" Kenny asked, breaking through Tyson's train of thought.

"Hm?" Tyson blinked.

"Judy, what do you think she's going to say when we tell her?" Kenny repeated.

"About Tala and Kai?" Tyson remarked. "I'm not sure, I guess if I were to think about it, she's going to be happy to know that they are alive. Secondly, she think we're joking and that we're still not coping with the lost. Then again, she might go in shock and won't be much help to us. We're all putting our personal experiences and feelings into this, which gives us a biased theory."

"You really do sound like a psychiatrist at times," Kenny chuckled. "In other words, what you're saying is that we have to put aside our emotions in order to figure this out."

"And you're sounding more like a writer all the time," Tyson teased. "I say we go over this with Judy the minute we can get a hold of her to talk alone."

"If our aunt will let us go so soon," Kenny sighed, thinking about how they had not been able to refuse their aunt's offer to stay with her and their uncle on their small trip back into town. Had it not been for feigning fatigue, Kenny was certain she would have poked and prodded and yapped their ears off. "Every time I see her, it's like I'm a prized cow."

"Hey, hey, don't let her hear that, she might treat you like one," Tyson laughed, walking over to one of the empty beds in the room, and flopping down on it. "I'm so tired, if Zeo's birthday wasn't Sunday, I would sleep two days away and not care."

"I know the feeling," Kenny stretched, just as there was a knock on the door, following a blonde head popping into the door. The two cousins were about to greet Max when they noticed the female face smiling at them.

"You boys don't mind if I come in do you?" Judy asked.

"No, no, not at all, we were just talking about you. Funny you would come see us," Tyson said, beckoning the woman into the room. Entering, Judy closed the door behind her, studying the young men.

"It's good to see you both, you look well," Judy smiled. "How have you both been?"

"We can't complain," Tyson said. "We're making our way through life as best as we possibly can. I even decided that I want to try for a degree in psychology."

"Max was telling me," the woman reported as her brows lined with worry. "Is this a decision you considered because of what happened three years ago?"

"Actually it is," Tyson admitted. "I wanted to do something in order to help others like Kai and Tala. I still want to do that, but I really do like psychology on my own. I'm not forcing myself to go through it. I would never make a good psychiatrist if I did, right?"

"It's good that you know that," Judy agreed, turning her attention to Kenny. "And what have you decided you wanted to do concerning the past."

"For a while, I didn't know then I thought about writing," Kenny thought. "It's really helped me get through things. Both Tyson and I have moved on, and found new loves despite things."

"I'm happy for you both," Judy smiled.

"But, we have a small dilemma, Judy," Tyson added in. "We need your opinion on it, but we're going to need you to put aside your emotions for a while in order to help us with it."

"This sounds serious." Judy took a seat in the empty desk chair, eyeing the young men before her that survived through what happened to be the roughest obstacle in their lives up to now. What more could have possibly happened, which they could not deal with on their own? "All right, I'm listening, what is it?"

"We both have told our boyfriends at least half of what went on here three years ago. Of course, they're not the problem we're about to bring up now. We have several questions we were wondering if you could answer about the past," Tyson started, his eyes never leaving the woman who was probably wondering what was going through their minds.

"I suppose so, but I told you everything about it Tyson," Judy blinked. "There's nothing more that I left out when it came to what happened. The maids put out the report, the police arrived to find Boris, his wife, and a maid murdered. A trail of blood leading outside uncovered that he dumped Tala and Kai's bodies in a ditch…both were dead."

"Did you see the bodies when they were brought back to town?" Tyson asked.

"No…I didn't…" Judy shook her head. "Tyson, if you and Kenny believe they are still alive, it's not a healthy train of thought to sink into denial and delusions."

"We're not delusional," Tyson argued. "We have our reasons for asking. When you hear what we have to say, you will understand. You don't have to take our word either we have other witness, that can not possibly be delusional, if you analyze our case as such."

"All right, since you are a psychology major, let's hear your analysis on the situation," Judy sighed. "What else do you have to ask?"

"You didn't see the bodies, nor did you give the autopsy?" Tyson questioned.

"No, a doctor from another hospital gave the autopsy, I was too emotional distraught to properly perform it," Judy remembered. "I was a mess that day. It's not every day two young men that were once your patients are killed by the very man that took them in. It doesn't happen in small towns like this very often."

"So you didn't see the bodies, and you just went along with the autopsy of the other doctor. Even when their relatives shipped the bodies back to Russia, you didn't confirm their deaths," Tyson said. "I understand what you're saying, but you're a doctor before anything else. It should have been your job to give a second medical opinion, since this is your jurisdiction."

"I suppose it should have been," Judy sighed. "I just didn't want to see them lying there in bodies bags. I would feel guiltier for not being able to do anything for them. And then I kept thinking about you and Kenny. It broke my heart in half."

"Who contacted the family?" Kenny wondered.

"I suppose…the police did," Judy thought. "They were in and out of there for days getting evidence and things."

"But some relatives arrived a day and a half after the incident, don't you think it's strange, when they begun the investigation the next day of discovering the bodies. Nobody knew they were dead before their relatives came. Only after the relatives came were the bodies discovered, given an autopsy, and shipped off to Russia within twenty fours of it happening. For some reason, I think they just happened to hear about it at random. Considering the size of the house, I would think the police could possibly gather that sort of information in two or three days of the crime," Tyson voiced.

"Tyson…what are you getting at?" Judy looked back and forth between the two cousins, her brows furling together.

"What we're getting at, is that they didn't die as everyone thinks. The town was given a fake autopsy report while Tala and Kai's relatives shipped them off to Russia secretly," Kenny declared.

"That's--" Judy started.

"They're alive," Tyson interrupted.

"You say you're not delusional then what do you call this conspiracy theory?" Judy gaped. "I know you wish they were really alive, but you have to move on."

"We did move on then no more than a month ago we were surprised when people we thought were dead showed themselves at my house. After three years of silence, we are proven wrong about their deaths," Kenny said softly, staring the woman dead in the eyes. "We wouldn't bring this up otherwise, you know that."

"It's impossible," Judy voiced.

"No it is," Tyson countered. "They are alive."

"We can give you their work number, numbers to friends' who can vouch for us…Tyson's irate boyfriend who is pissed at Kai, my boyfriend who has sat down with Tala and talked with him. If you want, we can take pictures when we get back and mail them to you as proof. We know you might have a hard time believing it, but it's true, Judy," Kenny urged.

"But…how…" Judy wondered.

"That's what we don't know either. They haven't said so much as what happened to us since they came back. Just recently, before coming here, I got Tala to promise me that he would tell me when I returned from this trip. Tyson and I wanted to at least piece some of the puzzle together on our own, to lighten the load they had to tell us, but there's not much here," Kenny sighed.

"I'm sorry," Judy apologized. "Maybe I should have done the autopsy. I could have uncovered the truth, and then you two wouldn't have to suffer like this."

"It's not your fault," Tyson assured. "You had no way of knowing they were really alive. Just recently, I noticed the inconsistence in the events surrounding three years ago."

"You have come a long way, Tyson," Judy smiled. "You're going to make a fine psychiatrist someday. Would you mind telling them to call me when they get a chance, it's still the same number as three years ago? I would love to hear their voices."

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind obliging that," Tyson nodded as a thought hit Kenny. In all the time of this conversation, he nor Tyson still knew who came to pick up the two. It's not like it mattered now, but for some reason, he couldn't see just anyone pulling off their disappearing act so successfully.

"Judy…" Kenny spoke.

"Yes Kenny?" The woman turned her head to see him mulling over a thought. "What's wrong?"

"Just to humor me, who came from Russia for their bodies…?"

"Their grandfather, Voltaire, which was a shocked because he never wanted anything to do with either of them before. I met him once in the past, and it was clear that he washed his hands clean of Tala's parents a long time ago, since Tala's mother married against his better judgment. It was the same with Boris, who was Tala's mother's older brother. Why do you ask?" Judy inquired.

"Kenny?" Tyson frowned.

"The reason they didn't call or let us know…" Kenny answered. "if what Judy says is true...then we've solved a piece of the puzzle, Tyson. All we need now is Tala and Kai to confirm my suspicions." If what he was considering was the case, Kenny feared what it meant to find out the truth. It might take everything he and Tyson had to lead them out of the darkness once more.

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: Oh look, I finally finished it. With some time to spare. I kept my promise and now I'm away to melt my brain with meaningless activities.


	21. Chapter 21

Rim: Now I'm ready to work with this story after procrastinating forever and a day. Since I figured out that I didn't want to work with Tyson and Kenny, this chapter, here's the less mentioned cast when those two aren't around.

_**-oooooo-**_

"You have to use this formula in order to uncover the theorem for the triangle," Michael pointed to the unknown equation Kain was trying to apply to another side of the acute triangle in his textbook. Kain raised his eyes from the book, giving Michael a funny look the red head interrupted as another one of those 'I have no clue in hell what you're talking about' stares. Michael held back a chuckle, seeing as how he didn't know how the blue haired man was going to make it in business if he couldn't do simple college level trigonometry.

"Do you want to run that by me once more?" Kain questioned. "I think it went out one ear and out the other."

"No really?" Michael said the corners of his mouth quirking into a smile. "How do you manage to succeed in business if things like this are going into one ear and out the other?"

"Easy, I'm going to get other people to do it for me," Kain commented, before receiving a slap over the head by his friend. "What was that for?"

"Focus on the work, or you're going to get embezzled out of everything you own," Michael stated, pointing back to the triangle. "Now like I was saying, you have to uncover the theorem."

"You're worst than Kenny, I think you two need to break up because you're starting to be influence by the wrong forces," Kain complained. "By the way, have you heard from your boyfriend since he left on his trip with Tyson?"

"Not as of yet, but I don't expect him to call me every hour on the hour. He's enjoying time with old friends," Michael said with another smile. "And if anything, he can tell me all about the trip when he comes back. He deserves a little time to himself away from things."

"You are one of the most understanding boyfriends I've ever had the courtesy of knowing. Considering the things that have been going on between you, Kenny, and Tala, most people would be on their last nerves by now," Kain leaned back in his chair, eyeing Michael who was unconcerned. Tilting his head to the side, Kain squinted slightly, trying to place his finger on the source of Michael's overabundance when it came to calm. "I don't get it. Tell me what I'm missing out of this."

"Pardon me if I don't understand what you mean," Michael replied, turning his attention back to Kain.

"I'm saying I don't understand how you can just be okay with all this. You're cooler than a cucumber, even after you had dinner with the ex. The same ex who tried to have his way with your boyfriend in a car, and made him cry. Had it been me, I would have more than a few choice words with him," Kain explained.

"You know what happened to him, so don't you think it's a little excessive in doing so. He was only--" Michael started.

"Being selfish and not thinking about whether or not Kenny might have fallen in love with someone else--" Kain replied.

"He was only being himself in thinking that he still had Kenny because he didn't know that Kenny would move on like that. I'm sure Kenny was his first love in the same manner that he was Kenny's. It's hard as hell to get over your first love."

"I wouldn't know," Kain shrugged. "I'm still with my first love."

"Well, you're an exception to the rule, but if Rei wanted to get rid of you, and go with some hot guy he met in a club or bar, you would moping around here for who knows how long trying to get over him," Michael said.

"Don't forget to put into the equation that he left Kenny thinking that he was dead for three years, so he has to take into account that it's natural to try to move on with your life after something like that happening. If he didn't want Kenny to fall in love with someone else, he should have got in contact with Kenny and tell the person he love, that he's alive. He has no idea what Rei and I had to go through picking Kenny back up on his feet," Kain argued, crossing his arms over one another.

"If we're going to take that into the equation, we should also add in that he might not have been able to contact Kenny over the course of the three years he was missing. Don't you think it's strange that he would just disappear all together for three years with no word to the person he loves?" Michael countered.

"I suppose if you're right," Kain thought. "He better have a damn good reason, or I will have to bash his head in for putting through hell and high water when this is all over."

"However it ends will be fine with me. Just as long as Kenny remains happy," Michael smiled. Kain said nothing for a long minute, his mind going over what the red head just said. Before silence could settle between them, Kain spoke once again.

"You're saying that because of your scholarship, aren't you? Have you told Kenny about it yet, or are you trying to find the right moment to spring it on him?" Kain closed his Trig book, turning his full attention on his friend.

"I guess you aren't as dense as you appear to be at times," Michael teased.

"You keep that up and I'm going to get violent on you," Kain threatened.

"You keep that up and we're going to make you Tyson's first mental patient to be put on medication. Of course if you don't calm your manic ass down, we might forget about the medication and I'll treat you to a club over the head, then explain to the cops once they get here it was self defense," Michael voiced.

"I'd like to see you try to club me over the head," Kain glared playfully at his friend. "Kenny's going to come back and is going to mourn that your balls are glued to your forehead."

"That's it, I'm so not helping you anymore," Michael shook his head. "You're the last person I want sticking their hands into my pants and trying to molest me. Does Rei know about your fetish?"

"What do you mean fetish?" Kain exclaimed, drawing the attention of people walking by their table in the small cafeteria a block away from their school's campus. It was where many students came and got work done for Monday classes on the weekend. The food was always fresh and made only when ordered; the cafeteria being one of the best places around where college kids could get a good meal for cheap.

"Take it easy, calm down before you short circuit," Michael laughed, getting up from the table. "I left you my notes, so you should be fine."

"Where are you going?" Kain raised a brow.

"I promised my stepfather that I was going to meet the couple trying to rent out an apartment downstairs from me. He's not able to meet with them since he's across town, so I'm fulfilling my duties as the reliable son," Michael responded.

"Well you do what you need to do, I'll call you later if I have any problems with this damn triangle," Kain pointed to his book.

"You're still stuck on that same triangle if you call me I'm going to have to take you back to basic arithmetic and leave you there," Michael grinned, walking away from the table while Kain voiced more threats to the red head. A few students walking by the table gave Kain worried looks, whispering to each other while they passed by.

Michael shook his head listening to Kain vent then turned his thought towards the acceptance letter that recently came in the mail for him accepting him the next semester to a school in Michigan. It was what he had been hoping for since he first realized that he wanted baseball to be his career. Neither his mother nor stepfather objected to it when he sat them both down and explained what he was going to do for college. He had the skill, he was willing to work with determination to make his dreams come true, and his parents backed him on it. The only factor which he had yet to add in to the formula was Kenny.

Of course he was going to let Kenny know about this change of events and give him an option as to what he wanted to do, but there was no way he was going to force his boyfriend to tag along with him so far away from his family and friends. Not to mention, Kenny still had to settle things with his former lover. Until his mind was clear over his past feelings and current ones, Michael was going to leave the brunette to come to his own conclusion without interference.

_**-oooo-**_

Ozuma leaned back in his seat staring at the people chatting at other tables or walking past his. One or two girls gave him an interested look every now and then to get his attention, but he was far from being in the mood of some flirty girl who wanted a one night stand out of him. It might make him feel better to have a no strings attached affair, however right now he was settling on being pissed off. Halfway with Tyson taking this trip all so suddenly, and his friends refusing to let him sit in his room quietly brooding. Instead, they dragged him out to eat with them, never minding what might be putting him in such a foul state.

Ozuma turned his attention on the three boys that were wrestling over a boneless buffalo wing that his spiky, wild haired friend came out the victor of. The dark haired boy popped the entire wing in his mouth as the other two boys with him, a brunette and a short blonde sitting next to the boy who won out over the wing. Ozuma shook his head, listening to the other two boys complain at the tallest member of the group.

"Next time, will you give someone other than your mouth a chance to have some food," complained the blonde, leaning back in the chair. "It's okay when the rest of us aren't around to woof down the food, but damn you Gouki."

"Don't blame me that the two of you don't eat fast enough," the aptly named Gouki grinned between chews.

"No, we just can't help that you eat too much," the blonde shot back.

"Hey Ozuma, you've been quiet all afternoon, what's up with you?" the other brunette said, frowning at his friend of two years. In fact, all three of them went to the same high school and it wasn't until their last month as juniors the three of them began hanging out together.

Ozuma turned his attention on the geeky looking brunette. "I thought I told you three that I wasn't in the mood to watch you stuff your faces and try to hit on girls. I just wanted to stay in my dorm room and be alone."

"What the hell crawled up your ass?" Gouki cocked a brow.

"Other than what's usually up his ass," laughed the blonde.

"Good one Jim," Gouki chuckled.

"Screw you." Ozuma flipped them off with a deep scowl set in his brows. "The only reason I hang around you losers is because I have nothing better to do with my time."

"Is that love we here in your voice, Ozu?" the brunette teased.

"Shut up Wyatt," Ozuma glared at the brunette who held up his hands defensively.

"I thought you were on cloud now? Is there trouble in heaven already with the new boyfriend?" Jim questioned. "We haven't met him yet, and there's already something wrong with him. You really know how to pick from the orchid, don't you, Ozu? So tell us what's wrong with this one."

"The ex is back in the picture...I understood what happened, but I thought he was over the guy. Not to mention the guy is a complete asshole, but Tyson is still head over heels in love with him. He didn't even say a word to the guy when he completely insulted me. I'm starting to suspect that Tyson wants to be with that bastard again," Ozuma said.

"And where's the beau now?" Wyatt questioned.

"The way I heard it, he's suppose to be taking some sort of trip with his cousin to visit friends. He's going to be gone the whole weekend," Ozuma stated.

"I wouldn't be fooled by that if I were you," Jim snorted. "He might have told you that he was going to visit friends, but he might just be sneaking behind your back to screw with the ex."

"You should drop the slut in my opinion," Gouki shook his head. "It's obvious that the tramp isn't interested in you anymore now that his ex is back in the picture. I've seen his types before. They tell you they're over the ex, but the minute he pops ups, they flock right back to him. You're only going to end up hurt if you keep him around."

"I'm in agreement with Gouki on this one," Wyatt added in. "You're messing with a dangerous fire."

"Not to mention the whore has no problem hurting your feelings over this. Just give him up. There are plenty of people who would give if you paid them a little attention," Jim said, jerking his thumb in the direction of another set of girls eyeing Ozuma interestedly.

"Let's not forget about the ever so lovely Victoria, who has had her eyes on you for a long while now," Jim commented.

"What do you mean by that? Vic and I are practically like siblings," Ozuma argued.

"You mean to tell me you have never noticed the wayward glances she gives you. She's not always joking when she says things, Ozu," Jim responded. "She means all of what she says. From what I hear, she's been in love with you for as long as she's known you."

"I've heard the same thing," Wyatt nodded. "I think you should really give her a chance and drop the worthless sack of crap you're going with now."

"Maybe you're--" Ozuma trailed off, his eyes meeting with the dual haired bluenette that just walked into the restaurant and up to the counter. Eyes of interest that once were focused on Ozuma shot to the newcomer; girls around him whispering about how sexy or hot the dual haired man looked. "Hell..."

"What?" the three guys said concurrently, staring at Ozuma.

"The guy at the register that just came in," Ozuma glared.

"That dude? What about him?" Wyatt turned his head to see the man placing an order with the chick at the register who looked about ready to leap over the counter and maul the unsuspecting guy.

"That's the ex," Ozuma growled.

"That's the loser your beau is jumping through hoops over?" Jim rolled his eyes. "He's just another pretty boy to me. There's nothing ever special about his brand. God, your beau is shallow."

"I say we go over and beat the crap out of him," Gouki said.

"I don't want to hear Tyson's mouth about it," Ozuma muttered, pulling his eyes away from the man who took the receipt from the register girl and walked back out of the restaurant, taking with him the hearts of every girl in there.

"Forget that skank," Jim stated, standing up from his seat. "What do you care if he's going to get pissed off because you beat up his little pretty boy? You're going to break up with him soon anyway, aren't you? So come on. Let's go after the bastard and teach him a lesson."

"It's up to you, Ozu," Wyatt offered. "We're not going to do a thing without your say so. In these types of instances, sometimes it's best to throw caution to the wind and do what makes you feel better."

"Look, see, even Wyatt of all people says we should go bash this guy's head into his skull and be done with it," Gouki pressured. "Just say the word, and we're out of here."

"Maybe it will help me feel better," Ozuma said slowly, getting up from the table.

"Sweet, I need a fight, this is the perfect excuse to have one," Gouki beamed, grabbing his coat and pulling it on.

The others followed example then left the restaurant, finding the bluenette walking down the street only a few yards in front of them. Taking brisk steps, the four teens followed behind their target that was anything but oblivious to the fact he was being followed. Kai just didn't believe Tyson's boyfriend was so stupid to try to gang up on him. Kai had figured when he spotted the brunette with three other guys, he was going to continue glaring at him and not make such an idiot move as what they were obviously planning to do.

Of course, who was he to let them be disappointed with this confrontation? Continuing on his way, Kai turned off, bee lining directly for the empty parking lot surrounded by two high buildings that would be adequate enough to keep bystanders from viewing what was about to go down. As expected, the four boys followed him, stopping four yards from him. Kai silently sized each one up, his eyes lingering momentarily on the tallest one who couldn't been no more than a few centimeters taller than Kai at best. This one was itching for a fight, Kai could feel it; it would probably be best if he took the big guy out first then work his way down to the small fries, leaving Tyson's boyfriend as dessert.

"Looks like he's not as stupid as he appeared to be," the tall dark haired guy smirked, walking up to Kai whilst the other's followed in his trail. Kai said nothing, cutting his eyes to Ozuma. "How nice of you to lead us here so we can kick your ass without an audience."

"I think he's scared Gouki," the short blonde said.

"You're not so tough when you have your friend around you, are you?" Ozuma said, stepping forward. "So tell me, where's my boyfriend at?"

"From what I last heard, he went to see his childhood friends," Kai said coolly, seeing anger flare in Ozuma's eyes.

"That little bit--" Ozuma started.

"Don't make the mistake to disrespect him in front of me. I'm not the type of person who likes to hear those sorts of things coming out about someone I know, unless they actually deserve it. And from what I know, Tyson's the last person you should be calling a bitch," Kai interrupted, narrowing his eyes with disgust. "He's not the one who told me about the trip before you get your panties in a knot and rant. My cousin heard that little piece of information from Tyson's cousin, and told me."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Ozuma snarled. "For all I know he's back at your place right now."

"Do you really think that if he was at my place, I would be standing here talking to you and wondering why you are afraid to approach me without an entourage trailing behind you," Kai said with an arrogant grin crossing his lips to find the shorter male flushing in anger. "Sorry, did I hit a nerve on that last note?"

"Ozuma let me handle him," the tall guy the blonde had called Gouki growled, cracking his knuckles, still eyeing Kai. "I can make him sing a different note in a few seconds."

"That's right Ozuma pass off your dirty work to someone else. Who knows, he might be able to land a blow on me before the three of you have to drag him to the hospital. Of course I might actually be nice and have my cousin pick us up, and we give you a lift to the emergency entrance," Kai responded.

"Ozuma, move," Gouki ordered, drawing his fist back.

"Bring it on, I want to see what you can do," Kai beckoned. The other three men scattered as Gouki lunged himself at Kai, swinging. Kai leaned back, the blow Gouki aimed at his head missing. Stepping in, Kai booted Gouki in the chest, sending the boy wheeling back, clenching the area as he tried to get his breathe back. Out the corner of his eyes, Kai saw the blonde. Shifting in his direction, he grabbed the blonde's arm, wrenching it behind his back and shoving him into his tall friend. The two of them tumbled over each other, falling back.

About this time, Kai felt the blow in his back. Turning around, he raised a brow at Ozuma who was drawing back to hit him again. Blocking the next attack, Kai happily returned the blow, watching Ozuma hitting the ground. Walking up to the aqua eyed teen, he leaned down, shaking his head, as Ozuma pulled himself up, moving his hand to wipe away the blood gushing from his nose.

Tilting his head to the side, he heard the big guy getting up, rushing at him. Ignoring Ozuma for a few seconds, Kai went in low as the guy swung again. Narrowing his eyes, Kai came up with an uppercut, sending the guy wheeling back again from the blow. Taking the opportunity to follow up with a second blow, Kai cocked back his other fist, hammering the slightly taller man in the temple, bringing him back down again.

The blonde tried tackling Kai around the waist and bringing him down. Raising his elbow, Kai brought it down a couple of times in the middle of the blonde's back until he let go. Ramming his knee into the abdomen of the blonde, he allowed the man to hit the ground, holding his stomach as he retched up dry coughs. Turning back to Ozuma, a fist caught him square in the face, pushing him back. Looking down the teen who was smirking because he got a blow off, Kai grabbed Ozuma's fist.

"Now that you've got your hit, let me return it with interest," Kai grinned, ramming his fist repeatedly into the side of Ozuma's temple. Releasing the now dazed teen, Kai smashed his fist into the boy's face, sending him sprawling back to the ground. Bending down, Kai picked Ozuma up by his hair. "Now have you learned your lesson yet?"

"Fuck you..." Ozuma spat.

"That's the wrong answer I was looking for," Kai said, drawing back and bashing his fist into Ozuma's face again. "Now, let's try this again. Have you learned your lesson?"

"Fuck...you..." Ozuma repeated.

"As I said, that's not the answer I was looking for," Kai sighed, striking Ozuma again in the face. "Now are you going to say it, or will I have to use your head as a punching bag for the next few minutes until you're unconscious?"

"Leave him alone!" Kai tilted his head to see the brunette who had stayed out of the fight pulling out a cell phone. "Leave him alone or I'm going to call the police."

"Well, at least someone was smart enough not to get involved with this fight," Kai remarked, dropping Ozuma on the ground. Dusting off his clothes, he walked towards the brunette who took backwards steps away from him. "Don't worry I don't have a reason to hit you. You were the only smart one to realize had you got involve, you would be spending the next few weeks nursing a raped ego. However, calling the police...that would be a bad idea considering that I was the one attacked, I might have to file charges. You know how that goes."

"Just leave them alone, and I'll look the other way about this," the brunette squeaked as Kai walked past him.

"If that's how you want to do it, then I'm all for it," Kai grinned, walking away. "Whenever Ozuma comes back around, tell him don't do anything foolish like this again. Next time I won't hesitate to not hold back."

_**-oooo-**_

Rei sipped on his mocha latte, lifting his eyes to the two men sitting across from him, enjoying their own drinks. He waited for one or both of them to speaking, wanting to hear what they had to say before he put out his own opinion first. It was hardly ever that Rei sought out Oliver, but it was one of those instances he needed closure on something.

"So," Rei started when neither Oliver nor Robert spoke. The two looked up from their drinks, focusing their full attention on the dark haired young man who happened to see them in the café on his way over to Kain's place and had asked them for a few minutes of their time. "How have you both been?"

"Fine, I can't complain too much over things," Oliver smiled, putting down his cup. "You seem to be in good spirits, yourself Kon."

"I guess so. I'm working hard on keeping things in order with school, home, my boyfriend, and Kenny. I suppose this is exactly why they call me a mother hen," Rei flushed.

"I wouldn't consider you a mother hen," Robert spoke. "It's natural to worry about your friends when what's happening to Kenny occurs. Sometimes it's better to worry a lot than worry a little. So many things can go wrong when you worry a little that you're not prepared for, but even if you worry a lot, you're always prepare for any scenario that arises."

"I've never thought of it that way before," Rei admitted.

"Robert's right, you have nothing to be ashamed about worrying over Kenny," Oliver nodded. "He will be able to work this out with Michael and Tala."

"I really hope so," Rei sighed. "I've been worrying about him ever since he realized he had feelings for Michael. I don't want to see him hurt anymore than he has been already. I remember when he first thought Tala was dead. It was as if I lost my best friend. You would see him smile, but you knew the only thing putting it there was a need to not worry everyone around him."

"I can imagine how it must have been for him. The way he first talked about his book and Tala, you can tell," Oliver commented.

"How is his book coming along anyway?" Rei tilted his head, looking between Robert and Oliver. "He keeps telling me that when he's finished, he will allow me to read it but he doesn't want to ruin the surprise of it yet."

"You should probably ask Robert how it's coming along, I've handed over my editor position to him," Oliver said.

"Oh really, I wasn't informed on that," Robert smiled.

"I thought you knew," Oliver raised a brow. "Do not tell me that old age is settling in already."

"You're not cute," Robert frowned.

"From what I've been told, I'm adorable," Oliver batted his eyes at his friend playfully.

"You two are almost worse than Kenny and Kain. Only I don't think anyone has threatened to lock the other in jail for assault...I hope," Rei blinked, a smile crossing his lips.

"Not recently," Robert said simply. "I'm still plotting on how I'll be able to get away with murdering him."

"Don't you mean you're trying to find a way to tell the police that I murdered you?" Oliver countered.

"Okay...I stand corrected, you two are worse than Kain and Kenny," Rei said, standing up from his seat once he was finished with his latte. "I'm just going to leave you two to plot each other's death and I'm going to head off on my way."

"Yes, I think it's best that we don't have any witnesses," Robert nodded.

"I'm going to worry now," Rei pointed out, moving away from the table. "Someone let me know if I have to call the authorities to make sure you're all right."

"Worry not," Oliver smiled. "I'm glad we were able to make you feel better. Sometimes it helps to confine in someone other than people you know very well. They may give you a deeper insight into your own feelings and thoughts."

"I suppose you're right," Rei said. "Thanks for the advice." Leaving Oliver and Robert, Rei headed out of the café. Pulling his coat tighter around him, Rei shoved his hands into his pockets.

He couldn't wait for the warmer weather to finally hit so that the cold winter nights would finally let up and he didn't have to bundle up under fifty blankets to keep warm. Snow crunched under his boots as he walked along the new snow dusted sidewalk, taking in the scenery around him. Stopping at the crosswalk, he kicked a clump of snow near his foot, looking over at the crosswalk sign as someone stepped beside him. Looking up at the new arrival, he was shocked to find Tala of all people beside him.

"Tala...?" Rei said, catching the red head's attention. Tala looked down into gold eyes, finding Kenny's friend standing beside him. "Hi..."

"You're Rei...right?" Tala blinked, having to search through his thoughts to remember the raven haired young man's name. Seeing the smile rise to the young man's lips, Tala returned it briefly.

"Funny meeting you at a crosswalk," Rei said, wondering if he was going to be able to get the red head to chat with him.

"Funnier things have happened," Tala shrugged.

"I suppose you're right," Rei smiled. "I was about to head over to see my boyfriend, then I got distracted, now I have no idea where I plan to go. What about you?"

"I went looking for my cousin, I haven't seen him for a few hours," Tala answered. "I figured maybe if I walked around, I would be able to find him." For a long second Tala watched the other male's eyes flicker reflective as he contemplated something in his head. Moments later, Rei turned his attention on Tala with another smile.

"You don't mind I help you do you?" Rei wondered.

"I guess not..." Tala hesitated, not knowing whether to make heads or tails of Rei.

Noting the hesitation, Rei gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm not trying to spy on your or gather information. I just thought it would be nice to talk. You can turn me down if you feel uncomfortable with it. I won't take offense or anything."

"It's fine. I believe you would never interrogate me for others," Tala interrupted. "Tell me though...since we're on that subject. Just how much has Kenny told you about things?"

"Anything specific you're asking that I know about?" Rei tilted his head up at Tala.

"Everything not including what occurred three years ago. I'm asking about more recently concerning Kenny and his boyfriend," Tala explained.

The crosswalk sign changed, allowing them to walk across. "There's really not much to tell. You want Kenny to make up his mind about who he wants to be with. Pardon me putting it that way."

"You don't have to apologize, I want you to be honest with me," Tala announced. "Sometimes the truth is ugly."

"Well..." Rei chewed on his bottom lip briefly, then went back to speaking. "Michael hasn't really taken a side in this from what I heard. He's willing to go along with whatever Kenny decides to do in the end. I also know about what you did to Kenny when he first found out that you were alive. I'm not going to say anything towards it, I understand in a sense why you did what you did."

"You must be the rational friend," Tala simpered. "The bluenette reminds me of Tyson."

"Had Kain ever heard you say that, I do believe he would be very upset with you," Rei chuckled.

"More so than he is?" Tala questioned.

"You have a point there," Rei nodded.

"Kenny went to go visit Tyson's friends," Tala said. "He plans to tell the woman that looked out for me and Kai growing up that we're alive. I wonder how she's going to take it. I'm sure if she had her way, she would be giving us an earful right now. She was that sort of person. She would probably want an explanation also."

"Have you told Kenny yet why you were gone for three years?" Rei asked. "It was very hard on him to believe you were dead for so long. It broke him up hard. At times I worried he would never pull himself back together."

"Do you blame me for it?" Tala looked down at Rei curiously, searching his face for any animosity. "I blame myself for allowing him to go so long without knowing."

"No, there's no point blaming you, it's not going to get me anywhere except frustration. We might as well drop the blame game because it's useless to either of us," Rei shrugged indifferently. "I have a feeling something happened where you had no choice but to disappear, am I right Tala? Otherwise why would you wait so long to pop up. Had you been toying with Kenny's feeling from the get go, I would have known and Kain wouldn't have a need to kick your ass. I would have done it for him."

"You're insightful kitten..." Tala murmured, a smile warming his face. "I'm beginning to like you more and more."

"So," Rei pushed a little bit, wondering if Tala was going to shell up.

"I don't know what I'm going to do about Kenny. There's a lot I have to tell him about what happened three years ago. None of it is pleasant, it left holes through us. Often we can't sleep or function due to it," Tala admitted. "I don't want him to cry or suffer because of it. I'm tempted not to tell him at all, just make up something to appease him."

"You don't wan to take the coward's way out of things, do you?" Rei added in.

"I've never in my life. I walk forward, taking the crap thrown at me," Tala sighed. "I guess that's why I'm so screwed up now."

"I hope that you'll be able to heal. Kenny never told me everything about your past. The pieces he's shared, it seems to me you're the last person who deserves to suffer in this world. I believe things will work out in the end," Rei assured.

"Are you saying that because you're trying to make me feel better?" Tala raised a brow, looking at Rei.

"I'm saying it because it's true," Rei shook his head. "Today, someone told me that there will be times you have to confine in someone you hardly know to often make the right decisions and choices in life. It doesn't hurt to have an unbiased opinion every now and then either."

"Maybe you're right kitten," Tala thought. "Just maybe this is what I needed."

"No need to thank me, if you ever need to have another talk, I'm always free," Rei beamed.

"I'll keep it in mind then," Tala said returning the smile. "What about for anything else?"

"Don't push your luck," Rei commented, catching the look he was receiving from the red head.

"I was just testing my limits," Tala replied. "Only joking no need to look like you wish to castrate me." Rei said nothing as they continued on their search for Kai, however he had a feeling he just found himself a new friend in the red head. He couldn't quite place his finger on it; there was just this huge hunch...and maybe the lopsided grin on the red head's face.

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: There sweet heavenly potatoes, I'm finally finished with this chapter. After several weeks of procrastinating. And Chao...that fight was so predestined long before you said a word about it, so don't think that I did it for you. Okay, maybe partially for you. Moving on now, I'm going back to reading my new Sherrilyn Kenyon novel.


	22. Chapter 22

Rim: All right, I've finally started working, now nobody can say that I'm being lazy anyone…or should I say the two people whose names shall not be mentioned. I don't really have much to say about this chapter, so let's get started.

_**-oooooo-**_

Kenny unpacked his bag, setting aside his dirty clothes to wash later. The trip had been better than he expected, it was a treat to see everyone once again. The time passed from that summer together had not distanced any of them. Everyone treated him like one of the gang, asking him how things were with him and such. Everyone stayed away from the subject of Tala and Kai, until Tyson got up enough nerve to tell everyone about recent discoveries. To say that everyone was shocked was an understatement.

**-flashback-**

"_So Kenny, tell us what has life really thrown your way," Mariah questioned, she was seated in between Emily and Jordan on the other side of the table as Kenny who was between Tyson and Max. The group had decided to go out for pizza finding a quiet corner in the air conditioned building to talk. Kids played on the few archaic machines pocketed into a corner of the shop._

"_Other than working on my book, I really don't have much in life going for me," Kenny commented, picking up another slice of the extra large pepperoni, onion, green pepper, and extra cheese pizza in the middle of the table and taking a bite out of it._

"_What's your book about?" Jordan said, leaning across the table to pick up another slice, placing it on her place. The girl's eyes were watching the brunette across the table with a smile._

"_Not much, just about life," Kenny shrugged. Of course she knew about Kenny liking Tala, but the girl didn't know to what extent. Not to mention that only a few people within that group knew about Kenny and Tyson's relationship with Tala and Kai. Until he was finished with the book, he would keep everyone oblivious to his sexual preference._

"_Life?" Max raised a brow. From what he had heard from Tyson some time ago, Kenny was writing a book on what occurred three years ago when he came there._

"_Yeah, at the moment I'm in between working on it and having it edited by a friend of mine whose going to be an English major," Kenny said._

"_Is he cute?" Mariah wondered._

"_Trying to get rid of Lee already?" Tyson teased._

"_No! It's not that!" Mariah said, as everyone around the table broke out in laughter. Eventually everyone settled down, Mariah's face burning bright red at the teasing._

"_You know we're just joking, don't get mad," Tyson smiled._

"_So tell me Tyson, you find someone new to lament over since I'm not around?" The girl leaned forward on her clasped hands, her eyes shining with mischief. Tyson averted his eyes, really not wanting to go through his romantic issues with the girl across from him when only a certain amount of people knew he was gay. "Oh! You have someone new? What's she like?"_

"_Um…well I don't really want to talk about it…we're going through some…altercations," Tyson said, rubbing the back of his neck._

"_Trouble in paradise?" Emily said._

"_Not exactly, just being a little jealous," Tyson sighed. "It's a long story that I don't think I really want to go through at the moment. Why don't you ask Kenny about his love life, from what I hear, it's mind blowing."_

"_What?" Kenny shrieked as all eyes turned on him._

"_Oh, really Kenny! I would never believe that you were so aggressive," Emily giggled._

"_I'm not!"_

"_So tell us about the person you're going out with?" Zeo commented. Kenny glared at Tyson who grinned deviously. He was going to kill his cousin when he had a moment. Of course he would save his hide by throwing him to the lions._

"_It's nothing," Kenny shook his head rapidly. "It's just your average relationship. Nothing exciting about it."_

"_Don't be shy, Kenny," Johnny grinned. "I bet she gorgeous. For some reason unknown to the rest of the world, the quiet guys get the best chicks."_

"_Can we just drop the subject?" Kenny asked._

"_Yeah, let's talk about something different," Max waved off, trying to save his poor friend from being mauled over whoever it was he was going out with. Kenny passed him a sympathetic look of thanks as the others chattered on for a minute towards who Kenny could be dating. The group turning their attention away from the conversation, went back to eating for a long minute until Jordan brought up the subject that Tyson and Kenny had been avoiding since the get-together. They promised that unless it was spoken, they would leave it as being in the past. Now, they would bring to light what they knew._

"_You know…it's times like this that out of nowhere Tala and Kai would come out of nowhere and pick a fight with Tyson," the girl blinked, her words slow as if she was afraid to let it all come out at once._

"_Yeah, I know what you mean. It almost feels different here with what happened," Emily rubbed her arms. "You would never thought something like that would happen in a small town like this. How does someone just go insane? I mean, sure they were bad, but they didn't need to be killed."_

_Max turned eyes on Tyson worriedly who stared at his pizza with deep concentration before his eyes immediately shifted to Kenny who was watching Tyson. "How about we stop talking about this? It's not nice to gossip about the dead, it's like bad luck or something."_

"_No, it's fine," Tyson shook his head. "I want to know that too. I doubt that someone like Boris Balcov up and goes insane killing his wife, a maid, and his nephews. He had some sort of motive."_

"_You mean, like they provoked him?" Jordan said._

"_Why would you kill yourself and those not involved if you're provoked?" Zeo questioned. "I would just go after the two and then be done with it, claiming self defense or something."_

"_It happens," Johnny said. "Sometimes you get so angry that you have to retaliate more than you should. Maybe they pushed him so far, he went over that edge and wasn't able to come back around."_

"_Well considering it was those two--" Emily thought._

"_No…" Tyson shook his head once again. "I don't believe they were capable of pushing anyone that far. In fact, I don't believe they deserved what happened to them."_

"_Tyson? Are you arguing their side now? I thought you hated them with a passion?" Johnny blinked._

"_Think about carefully. We're giving a bunch of biased reasoning without considering the other factors. True they did have their way about things, but isn't it also true they kept more to themselves than provoking others. Besides me, they never really got into fights with other kids," Tyson stated._

"_But there were a lot of kids who didn't like Tala or Kai," Mariah said._

"_Because they never bit their words. They always said what was on their mind even if the other person didn't want to hear it. There was probably two or three incidents they fought with anyone other than me. In each one of those cases, I think I heard the other person always threw the first punch," Tyson reminded._

"_I guess you're right about that, but what about all those rumors?" Jordan said._

"_Rumors are started by someone who most times dislike a person, especially the rumors we heard. We never saw any of this happened, but it was always a friend of a friend who saw something. I think we're old enough to not rely on those as evidence," Tyson frowned. "Stepping back into the lines of rationality, we're no closer to knowing why this happened."_

"_I can't believe you don't sound anything like the Tyson we use to know," Zeo said. "You're really serious about this aren't you?"_

"_I've had a lot of things to make me think that there is something going on here that we don't know about. Don't any of you think it's strange how supposedly Balcov killed them, dragged their bodies off into a ditch then came back and shot himself. Why would he do that? None of it makes sense."_

"_So you think that they killed Balcov and his wife and that maid?" Johnny said. "It doesn't make sense, because that would mean they committed suicide. That doesn't make sense for them to do. What were they going to gain from that?"_

"_What Tyson's trying to say is that…what if there was some sort of cover up about this," Kenny added in._

"_What kind of cover up?" Zeo frowned._

"_Tyson, it's time to let everyone know what we found out," Kenny suggested to his cousin._

"_What do you mean what you found out?" Emily looked back and forth between Kenny and Tyson, the two young men wondering how exactly they were going to explain this series of events considering how it all connected together. Tyson rubbed his temple, thinking about the headache that was about ready to start. "Tyson, what's Kenny talking about?"_

"_Well…they're alive," Tyson said._

"_Who?" _

"_Well, with the subject that we were just talking about, I would have to say that Tala and Kai. They weren't killed by their uncle like everyone thought," Tyson responded._

"_They have to be dead. Their bodies were discovered in a ditch and carried back to Russia to be buried. We were all together when we found this out. In fact, I remember you went into shock. Max and Zeo had to help you back to your aunt's house," Johnny said._

"_As I said, what if there was some sort of cover up," Kenny put in. "I doubt we're going to mistake two people that Tyson's known for years."_

"_There's no way possible they could have lived," Jordan shook her head._

"_Believe us, they are alive."_

**-flashback ends-**

The whole situation took Tyson and Kenny nearly an hour before anyone could wrap their minds around the issue, the two cousins barely managing to skid around why Tala and Kai were in Massachusetts. No one could wrap their brains around the fact the two were alive, let alone walking around without being suspects for murder. It took an additional half an hour once the group believed it, to make Johnny not go to the police with the case.

Sitting on the bed as he unzipped the small luggage bag laying on the floor, his cell phone vibrated beside him. Leaning over to see the flashing number, Kenny smiled, picking it up to answer it. Pressing talk, the brunette placed the phone to his ear.

"I can't leave you for no more than twenty minutes before you have to call me," Kenny said in a teasing manner. "Are you in love with me, Tyson?" The soft laughter of his cousin rang through the other end, he could imagine the bluenette in his room doing the same thing Kenny was. Michael had met the two at the airport, driving them back.

"I don't think Michael would appreciate me taking you away from him," Tyson joked.

"Oh, what happened to me being your master, remember. I brought your virginity online, or so I heard from a certain someone," Kenny reminded.

"Don't remind me why I had to make up that response," Tyson groaned. "Why did she have to be at the party too?"

"I thought Max said it was coincidence?" Jordan's cousin Hilary had mysteriously showed up halfway through the party, claiming she was only there because her parents were visiting the town. Tyson had proclaimed Jordan set him up to have her cousin cling to him the whole time he was there, chattering his ears off over any little thing she might have missed of him in the past three years.

"Coincidence my ass," Tyson snorted. "She would not miss an opportunity to be around me if it was up to her. Thanks for playing along with me on this again, Kenny. You are a lifesaver."

"The next time I have to feel you up, you're on your own," Kenny warned.

"It wasn't so bad," Tyson said.

"Feeling up any part of you isn't in my agenda for the day. I don't ever plan to let that happen again just for the sake that you're trying to escape a clinging stalker," Kenny said.

"You make it sound as if that's the worst thing you ever had to do," Tyson huffed. "I'll have you know that a lot of people would love to feel me up."

"None of which are me thankful."

"Just kill your cousin's ego then," Tyson sighed. Kenny listened to Tyson shift through his bag, setting something down on the wood flooring. "You know, despite things, there was still a heavy atmosphere hanging around after we told them about Tala and Kai."

"I don't know if you remember, but I was talking to Max for a while privately."

"I believe I briefly saw the two of you chatting, what were you discussing?" Tyson said on the other end.

"It was towards what we told Judy, and about the promise that they made to us before everything happened. That and about the situation we both are in. He gave me his opinion on it, but I told him not to tell you until I sat down and thought about it more myself."

"No wonder you were so quiet on the flight home…wait, that might have been due to airsickness, never mind then," Tyson corrected himself. "One day you're going to get over that."

"I wish to hell I would so I don't lose my digestive track every time we are in the air," Kenny grumbled.

"All right, back to what you were saying towards thinking," Tyson remarked. "What conclusion did your mind come up with?"

"Remember when Judy said that it was their grandfather who came to retrieve them?" Kenny questioned.

"She said he didn't approve of Tala's mother marrying Tala's father, so he wiped his hands clean of the matter." There was a brief pause before Tyson picked up what Kenny was saying. "You think that he's the reason they weren't able to contact us."

"Exactly, I don't--" Before Kenny could get further, another lined peeped in, interrupting his conversation. Moving the phone from his ear, he found Rei's number flashing on the other end. "Tyson, let me talk to you later, Rei's on the other end." Kenny said when he had the phone back to his ear.

"All right, I have to finish unpacking then go see Ozuma anyway. We'll finish this conversation later," Tyson said hanging up the phone. Kenny clicked over the line, giving his friend a cheery hello.

"What's up Rei?"

"How was the trip? Did you have fun? Kain was worried about you the whole time you were gone," Rei laughed. "He really is a mother hen at times. You know if he could have, he would have stowed away with the luggage to make sure you didn't get picked up by any strange men this time."

"Don't remind me of that," Kenny shuddered. "This time I didn't wander off by myself to get away from Jordan."

"Was she there? How is she doing? Still clinging to you and professing her undying love?" Rei asked.

"No, she's with someone now when she realized that she couldn't have me. Yeah, she clung, but it was more like seeing a little sister you've been separated from for a while. We had lots of fun this time around," Kenny smiled, thinking about the lifelong friend he had made in the younger girl. He even gave her his number to call if she ever needed help with anything.

"That's really a turnabout," Rei said. "Who picked you up from the airport when you came back. I just got off work and I know Kain is busy with a project from school he likely forgot to come meet you."

"Don't worry about it, Michael was there to give us a ride home. You and Kain don't always have to come to my rescue all the time. I'm not going to fall apart when you're not looking," Kenny teased.

"We know…we just want to make sure that you're fine. We've been friends for so long, it's only natural," Rei spoke.

"I know, I thank you two for all the support that you've given me," Kenny said. "I don't know what I would do with myself without the two of you. So, what do you plan to do now that you're off work?"

"I called because I thought maybe you wanted to hang out," Rei said.

"Sounds like a plan to me. What about your wife though?" Kenny heard Rei laugh on the other end, a smile curling to his own lips at mention of Kain. "I'm serious, you know how your wife is when you aren't around."

"He'll be busy until tonight, we can leave him alone for a while, he's not going to miss me too much. He let me borrow the car after all, so no worries," Rei said. "I'll come swing by and pick you up in a few once I get out of my work clothes."

"That gives me enough time to finish separating things from my bags. I'll see you in a few. There's a few things I want to talk to you about anyway."

"Good I hope," Rei said.

"I dunno, I'll get your opinion on it when we meet up."

"All right then, I'll be over in half an hour then." The two hung up the phone, Kenny leaning back on his bed to think about Tala, Kai, and the three years they were missing. He hoped to God he was wrong about their grandfather punishing them for what happened to their uncle and a past they had no control over. He really didn't want to see that much darkness in hearts that were trying to hard to find light again.

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: Yeah, that felt like the saddest filler chapter I've ever had to write in my life. Well, there's nothing I can do about it…or feel like doing about it. So, it's eight something now, only twenty minutes before Supernatural comes on and I need food…yeah, I'm off now. Next chapter will be better I suppose, I get to the good stuff after all.


	23. Chapter 23

Rimi: All right, I'm finally getting back to work. I think I might be able to have this one finished out by July with some luck if I stick to a solid plan. So here we go boys and girls, the next chapter of Aster. I'm playing this by ear…so here we go.

_**-oooooo-**_

Tyson took a deep breath as he stepped off the bus. Turning his head to smile at the bus driver and tell the middle age woman to have a nice day, he stepped onto the sidewalk as the bus doors closed and the bus pulled away from the curb. Tyson considered everything he would tell his boyfriend about his trip, wondering if Ozuma was still going to be mad at him for whatever reason what stuck in his boyfriend's head. Maybe he should hold off with his visit momentarily and see if Professor Lashley might be around. Then again, maybe Ozuma was in a better mood with time to cool off and realize he was being unreasonable.

Debating on what to do, Tyson finally decided that he could speak with Professor Lashley the following week. He was eager to find out if the few days away had perhaps brightened Ozuma's disposition. With his mind made up, Tyson begun making his way towards Ozuma's dorm.

Tyson said hello to a couple of kids that were regular customers at his job, stopping for a minute to talk with them when they asked where he had gotten off to the last few days. Eventually the boys bide Tyson off saying they would see him around as they headed out for the day. Tyson continued on his path, heading up the stairs of the boys' dorm.

His mind wondered how Ozuma really was, and whether or not he had kept out of trouble while Tyson was away. Considering that Kai had remained in town and it wouldn't be uncommon if Kai and Ozuma might have passed each other on the street. The two of them were like a mongoose and cobra with no restraint between them.

"No…Ozuma isn't childish to start anything with Kai," Tyson shook his head as he continued to climb up the steps to the fourth floor where Ozuma lived. Kai might be able to push a person's nerves, but even Kai had a limit to what he did. He wasn't the type of person who would just start something with someone he didn't know, even if he disliked the person. True to fact, Kai preferred avoiding confrontation most days than anything else.

Eventually Tyson managed to tell himself that nothing had gone on in his absence between Kai and Ozuma, so he had no reason to worry about them. The only thing he really had to worry about was whether or not Ozuma was in a much better mood now that he had time to think to himself without Tyson around. Walking down the hall to Ozuma's dorm, he knocked on the door, standing there with a smile which he hoped Ozuma would return. Waiting for a brief minute, the door to the dorm was opened, standing behind it was a young woman with long blond hair streaked with black and red.

The two of them stood for a long minute staring at each other before the girl smiled at Tyson. Tyson blinked, but returned the smile at least halfway. Maybe she was a friend of Ozuma's, or his sister who might be visiting.

"Um, is Ozuma here?" Tyson questioned, though it was a stuff thing to say considering why would she be there if Ozuma wasn't around.

"No, I broke in, kidnapped him after he put up a struggle, now I've returned to clean up the mess so nobody suspects it was me," the girl said with a wide grin that would have been insane has Tyson not heard the humor coloring her words.

"Um…wow, I don't think I need to be a witness to that," Tyson laughed slightly. "I never saw you, I don't know you, I'm blind."

"Good answer," the girl laughed, holding out her hand. "Victoria Bennet, I'm an old friend of Ozuma's."

"Tyson Kinomiya, current friend of Ozuma's," Tyson said, shaking the girl's hand. He had no idea whether or not she knew about him and Ozuma, so he would play it cool until told otherwise.

"It's nice to meet you, come in, Ozuma's hanging around," Victoria said, moving to the side to allow Tyson's entrance. The bluenette thanked her, walking in as she closed the door. Leading Tyson to the living room, she went to the bedroom, opening the door and walking in. A minute later, she was dragging Ozuma from out the room as the teen protested. "You have a visitor, stop protesting and be a man about it."

"I told you I didn't want to see anyone," Ozuma complained as Victoria pushed him in front of Tyson, whose mouth gaped open as he stared at the battered face of his boyfriend. Ozuma glowered when he saw Tyson, turning his face away from the other male.

"Ozuma, what the hell happened to you? You look like you were hit by a bus," Tyson exclaimed.

"You want to know what happened to me?" Ozuma hissed, turning furious eyes back on Tyson. "Your fucking ex boyfriend was what happened to me!"

"Ah, so you're the one Ozu's involved with," Victoria said softly, her eyes studied Tyson with a look of both worry and a touch of distaste. "I should have realized it when I first looked at you."

"Ozuma…" Tyson gaped.

"I don't know why the hell you're so shocked, I'm sure he told you exactly what he did and you were there with him laughing at my luck, weren't you?" Ozuma accused.

"I don't know why you would think I would laugh at something like this, but you're wrong. I told you days ago that I was heading out of town for my best friend's birthday party with my cousin. I don't know where you got the idea that I was with Kai, but you're wrong about that too. I'm with you Ozuma," Tyson said.

"Oh really, a likely story," Ozuma scoffed. "So did you have fun on your so called trip out of town?"

"Ozuma, I didn't come over here to argue with you and be accused of going behind your back so I could see Kai. I don't know what Kai was thinking starting a fight with you, but I'm going to give him a piece of my mind about it," Tyson voiced.

"I don't want you doing any fucking charity for me because you feel bad that I'm pissed off you're such a fucking slut," Ozuma snapped. Tyson stared at Ozuma as if he had been slapped in the face.

"E-excuse me…" Tyson blinked.

"Ozuma, I'm going back to the other room," Victoria said, leaning in to kiss the side of Ozuma's bruised face. "Take care of this and come back to bed." Walking from the room, back to the bedroom, she closed the bedroom door to give them some privacy as Ozuma glared at Tyson.

"You heard what I just called you. I bet this isn't the first time you've been called it, have you, you little bitch," Ozuma grounded out. "How many guys have you strung along like this? I'm sure I'm not the first one you've given a line about your oh so tragic past with your boyfriend to see who would fall for it. I can't believe I was stupid enough to be blinded by that pretty little smile and sad blue eyes."

"I don't know where you got that idea from, but you're wrong," Tyson whispered. "I've never led you along in my life. I can't help that there were unexpected changes in my life, but you can't blame me for that."

"I can't blame you for making me doubt my own boyfriend? I should have none something was up from the beginning, but I wanted to believe that you were innocent in this. I've had time to think about this, and I realized just how much of a fool I was for letting you string me along, you slut."

"Ozuma…was it something that Kai said, because it's not true. I never thought he would do something like this in my life while I was gone," Tyson said, reaching out to touch Ozuma's face gently only to have his hand slapped away. Tyson retracted his hand, hurt that Ozuma didn't believe him. What exactly happened while he was away? "Ozuma…please believe me."

"Why should I? So you can lie to me again and go behind my back to fuck him?" Ozuma accused. "Why don't you just go back to his bed, I'm through with you Tyson."

"Ozuma!" Tyson grabbed the other teen's shoulder only to find himself shoved away. Losing his grip, Tyson stumbled over his own feet, falling back on his ass. Staring up into Ozuma's furious eyes, he could only stare in bewilderment.

"The girl you just met, I'm with her now. After I realized you abandoned me, I let her comfort me anyway she wanted. I have to say she's a much better fuck than your sorry ass. You can go back to your boyfriend now without playing my face, slut. I hope you're miserable, you fucking trash," Ozuma barked.

"Ozuma…" Tyson started, his throat closing up as hot tears stung his eyes.

"Get out of my sight, I never want to see you again. It's over between us, don't speak to me ever again." Ozuma reached down and yanked Tyson up, dragging him to the door. Opening it, he shoved Tyson out, slamming the door shut. Tyson stared at the door between him and his now ex boyfriend. Tears slipped down his face as he balled his fists at his side.

"Fine! To hell with you then," Tyson shouted. Turning away from the door Tyson quickly made his way off the floor before anyone could become nosy about the whole affair. He couldn't believe Kai or Ozuma for that matter. Exactly what happened while he was gone? Why would Kai do something like that? Was he really that desperate to have Tyson back on his side, he would force such a huge rift to tear. Tears still stung his eyes, blurring his vision as he ran from off the campus until he was back on the side of the road where he slowed to a stop. More tears broke fear as he fought down the sob that was clawing at his throat. With a shaky hand, he pulled out his phone, fighting through the tears to find the number that he was looking for.

_**-oooo-**_

"So tell me about your trip," Rei leaned back in the chair of the cafe staring at his friend who was drinking a float. Blue eyes lifted to him thoughtfully, Rei patiently waiting for a answer. Releasing the straw from his mouth, Kenny looked across the table at his friend.

"We the woman that took care of Tala and Kai when they were younger that they were alive, and she…well, she was shocked to say the least. She first thought that Tyson and I were disillusioning ourselves because we had yet to come to terms with our grief over them. However, we finally managed to convince her that they were indeed alive and that something happened to them which caused them to disappear for the last three years."

"It's not an easy thing to accept after so much time thinking one way," Rei commented.

"I know," Kenny nodded somberly. "Tyson and I are prime examples of that."

"Hey, stop that," Rei said, reaching across the table to squeeze his friend's hand. His gold eyes flitting with worry. "Why would you say something like that when you know that you were given no other choice but to believe they were dead."

"On the way back, I got to thinking, there's some reason they didn't contact us in those three years. They aren't the type of people who would just sit around and think it would be okay for no contact to go so long. Something serious had to have happened to them…something that scares me."

"What do you mean scares you?" Rei continued holding on to his friend's hand, his brows wrinkling together as he watched his friend.

"I found out from Judy that it was their grandfather who came for them. Tyson and I learned from her that he hated Tala because he was the product of Tala's mother marrying against his orders. I kept wondering, if he came for them, what if he did something to them for three years with no one objecting to it. What if he abused them both worst than they had ever been abused for what happened in Tennessee? When I thought about that, it made me sick to my stomach and shamed that something like this could happen and I just moved on with my life while they suffered in order to come back to us."

Kenny dropped his head a little, shaking off the thoughts that scattered through his brain. What if they had suffered inhumane conditions just so they could come back to he and Tyson again? What if they fought tooth and nail to live?

"Kenny," Rei said softly. "Even if they were taken away by their grandfather secretly, you had no idea of knowing that. You were told they were killed, their grandfather made everyone believe that they were dead. You're not psychic, you can not blame yourself for moving on with life. It's sad to think that they were alive all this time without your knowledge, but what can you do about it? Nothing…the past is over, we can only move forward with a greater set of experiences and knowledge with us."

"I know, Rei. I just…when he tells me what happened…how am I going to support him?" Kenny looked up into his friend's eyes with uncertainty and fear. "How am I going to touch his heart and pull it out of the darkness when he tells me the truth? I'm scared Rei…I'm scared that I won't be able to help him. That I will be no use to him."

"This isn't an easy situation, but you've pulled through before. When he told you about his past, about what happened to him, you were there for him, even though you were thousands of miles away. He gained strength to push forward because you were there. Now is no different than before, the circumstances are just a little more extreme," Rei assured.

"It's times like this that I'm thankful you're around, Rei," Kenny sighed.

"Are you trying to say that every other time you wish I was somewhere else being a mother hen to another person?" Rei teased, hoping to bring his friend out of his rut. He was rewarded by a short smile curling the ends of Kenny's mouth.

"I like you being a mother hen for me, of course I would never want you to find another person to baby," Kenny replied.

"Then don't ever say something like that again," Rei chimed.

"You know what I meant," Kenny protested softly.

"I know, but I have to get you to smile somehow, don't I?" Rei questioned. "You know, while you were gone, I had a long talk with Tala."

"How did that happen?" Kenny blinked, shocked at what his friend was telling him.

"I originally went to visit Kain, but I met up with Oliver and Robert. I sat and talked with them for a while because I was worried about you. When I left them, I coincidently met up with Tala who was off looking for his cousin. I asked if I could walk with him for a while and we had a little talk," Rei relayed.

"I see…did he try to hit on you?" Kenny questioned, thinking that it just wouldn't be Tala if he didn't try to test his limits every now and then. He was about as worst as Kai, though Kenny would never tell the red head that openly for fear of being hung upside down and left like that. The brunette watched a short, amused smile twitch at the ends of Rei's mouth at the comment. "Why doesn't it surprise me that he would try?"

"He just suggested if I ever wanted to do more than talk, and I told him not to push his luck," Rei said. "He certainly is an interesting person. If I didn't love Kain as much as I did, I might have decided to steal him away from you, Kenny."

"Hey, watch it," Kenny said. "I love you, but I love you enough not to beat you into a coma."

"Oh, possessive. I thought you loved Michael?" Rei gave his friend a cat like grin, Kenny scowling slightly at being teased by his friend. He knew Rei would never do something as he claimed, however he didn't like that line of thought. Deep down, he was just as possessive of Tala, as Tala was about him.

"I do love Michael, however I love Tala too," Kenny stated.

"You can't have them both," Rei said.

"You have Kain," Kenny replied. "Will I have to tell mother that you're trying to cheat on him?"

"You wouldn't dream of telling your mother, would you?"

"Oh, you keep trying to steal Tala away, I'll shout it to the world then let you deal with Kain," Kenny warned as Rei laughed.

"I give in," Rei smiled. "I'm no match for such a possessive child. Where did I go wrong raising you?"

"Hm, good question," Kenny said, tapping his finger against his chin. "When I figure it out, I'll let you know."

"Don't tell me that my cousin has two adorable boys fighting over him. How can I become as lucky for such an opportunity?" The two were startled as they looked up hearing Kai's voice. Turning their head to the side, they found the two boys had somehow crept up on them, standing only a few feet away. Kai held a giant grin on his face as he listened to the conversation. "Please, by all means, don't stop it because we're here."

"Tala, Kai, what are you two doing here?" Kenny asked, turning his eyes on Tala who watched him quietly. Kenny had no idea what was behind the red's eyes, the look on his face was indistinctive.

"We happened to be making our way from work and spotted you here," Kai said. "I decided to drag Tala over, since he gave no indication he was eager to see you. So, how was your trip?" Kai pulled up two chairs, depositing his cousin beside Kenny while he sat near Rei.

"Well, besides the airsickness going there and coming back, it was nice. It was like three years ago when I first met everyone," Kenny said.

"Did you tell Judy that we were alive?" Tala questioned, speaking up. His eyes still watched Kenny, the icy orbs roaming over Kenny's face in a lazy, but attentive. The brunette really wanted to know what was on Tala's mind.

"Yes," Kenny nodded. "At first she didn't believe us. She thought we were still in denial over what happened. We finally managed to convince her that you were alive. She asked us to tell you to call her, she would like to hear from you. She said the number is still the same as three years ago."

"It would be nice to hear from her again too," Kai said, thinking about the only person in that town who had ever given a damn about them despite their resistance at times to let her help them when she could.

"How much of our conversation did you hear anyway?" Rei opted to ask, leaning against his hands to eye the cousins. Kai turned his fiery eyes on Rei, winking flirtatiously. Rei shook his head, a short smile curling his lips into a smile regardless of the fact that the dual haired man winking at him was supposed to be in love with his best friend's cousin. "You know, if it didn't work for Tala, I doubt it's going to work for you."

"I can give it a try can't I?" Kai shrugged with a grin.

"Aren't you in love with my best friend's cousin?" Rei wondered, his gold eyes studying Kai who studied him.

"Just because I've given my heart to Tyson, that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun pampering the cute kitten sitting next to me with my free time, does it?" Kai questioned.

"Kai, stop trying to take my mistress," Tala said, yanking a lock of light blue to gather Kai's attention from Rei. Kai yelped slightly, turning his eyes on Tala with a growl.

"Bastard," Kai hissed, rubbing the side of his head where Tala had yanked. "Stop trying to ruin my good looks because the kitty decided to flirt with me."

"Don't make me have to call the police to bring me a taser to use on you both," Kenny warned as the two cousins stopped all immediate bickering to stare at the brunette.

"I'm going to find some way to keep that idiot cousin of yours away from you," Tala said, blinking slowly. "You only get stupid ideas like that in your head when you've been around him, or has spoken to him."

"I love my cousin, and despite I've recently had to feel him up, I do care to see and hear from him when I can," Kenny laughed.

"You felt him up?" Tala said.

"You don't really want to know…it has to do with him, some crazy clinging, stalker, and supposedly me buying his virginity online." The three individuals sitting with him were silent, only staring at him. "You all can stop looking at me like that…I was against feeling him up to begin with."

"Kenny, you know I respect and love you like a brother. I can even understand the need for incest with you two being so close but I do not want to have to beat you for it," Kai warned.

"You know all about incest don't you Kai," Tala said, as his cousin whirled around to look at him. "After all, you've already tried it. Kenny, have I ever told you about the time when Tala and I were sixteen and he decided to drink Vodka and Tonic straight?"

"You bastard, don't tell anyone that story!" Kai voiced, swatting at the red head who caught his hand and held it away from his head.

"My dear cousin decided that he couldn't spend the night without me. He climbed into my bed in hopes I would give him the best screwing of his life. However after a few minutes of humping my leg, he--" Kai clamped his other hand over Tala's mouth, glaring at the red head who coolly stared at him. Kenny's eyes went to Kai who coughed.

"To answer that earlier question, we only heard the part of your conversation where your friend conversed with Tala while you were away," Kai smiled.

"You were trying to get sex out of Tala," Kenny blinked.

"Can we just drop the subject, I was drunk and I had no clue what I was doing when I woke up with a hangover the next morning," Kai protested. "It wasn't like I did it on purpose. Why can't I get a break about it? It never happened again, ever!"

"It better not have," Kenny threatened.

"If it ever happens again, I give you and Tala permission to each grab a ball and snap them off," Kai sighed, removing his hand from over Tala's mouth. "You only get me in trouble, dear cousin. You enjoy watching me sweat."

"Oh, he hasn't heard that I'm the first wife and Tyson is your second wife," Tala voiced.

"You know…I'm going to pretend that I haven't heard anything so I don't have to lock you away somewhere Kai," Kenny shook his head. "Moving on, what do you two plan to do now? Are you still planning to head home?" Kenny turned his eyes back on Tala, who had already gone back to staring at him.

"Kenny, I'm going to head back to see how Kain's holding up with his project, if you need me, just call, I'll have my cell phone still on," Rei smiled across the table at his friend as he stood up.

"I'll be the gentleman and walk you to your car, kitten," Kai replied, getting up from his chair to help Rei into his coat.

"Oh, how nice of you. This isn't mean that you still have a chance with me," Rei commented. "But it is sweet of you anyway."

"Ouch, you really do know how to turn a man down," Kai teased as he followed Rei from the table, leaving Tala and Kenny to have a few moments alone. Kenny met Tala's stare, his mind still wondering exactly what was on the red head's mind.

"Kenny, tell me," Tala started after a brief moment of silence. "Do you still have no idea who you want to be with? Are you still going to hide your feelings for me and remain with that other one?" Tala reached out, stroking his thumb over Kenny's features before his thumb gently traced the outline of the brunette's lips. Lips that he wanted only kissing him, to say his name, to tell him he was the only person in the world he loved. He needed Kenny more than his own life.

"Tala," Kenny breathed, closing his eyes lightly, leaning into the touch he knew so well. Opening his eyes, he pulled back with a sigh. "I've never hid my feelings for you. You mean the world to me, but I also care about Michael. I promised I would be there for you Tala, that's what I plan to do no matter what."

"I'm tired of waiting for you." Tala let his hand fall to the table, shifting his eyes from the brunette. "I need you to make up your mind…how can you support me and what happened three years ago if you're with another man?"

"I want to try…somehow," Kenny whispered.

"You want to try…" Tala commented. "Fine…I'll tell you what happened."

The momentary silence between the two was broke as Kenny's cell phone rung. Pulling the object out, Kenny found Tyson's number flashing on the caller ID. Flipping the phone open, Kenny placed it to his ear, hearing the sounds of cars as ragged sobs cracked through the line. The hair on the back of Kenny's neck prickled up.

"Tyson, what's wrong? Where are you?" Kenny questioned. For a long moment the bluenette sobbed on the other end, Kenny's question refusing to be answered. "Damn it Tyson, answer me. Where are you, what happened?"

"Kenny," Tyson whimpered. "He…he…"

"Who? Calm down and answer me," Kenny demanded. "Now tell me where the hell are you and what happened?"

"I'm on the street corner, by campus," Tyson managed to pull himself together and say before another bout of sobs cracked through on the other end of the phone. "He didn't have to do things like this…not after everything…"

"Ozuma?" Kenny asked, wondering had a fight between the two finally escalated and Ozuma had broke up with his cousin. "Stay where you are, I'll be there in about twenty minutes, all right."

"All right," Tyson said, sniffling on the other end of the phone line. Kenny hung up the phone, turning his eyes on Tala.

"Come on, we'll get Kai and the car then head over to the campus to pick up Tyson," Tala said standing up from his seat. "We were just about to head to the parking lot where our car is stashed when we saw you. So, he had a fight with the boyfriend?"

"That's what I think. I don't know what happened, he wasn't too coherent between the crying," Kenny sighed, combing a hand through his hair.

"Come on." Tala ushered Kenny from the café as Kai was about ready to head back to him. His brows raised in curiosity until he saw the look on Kenny's face.

"What's wrong?" Kai asked.

"Something happened between Tyson and Ozuma. He just called me crying on the street corner by campus," Kenny said.

"That bastard…" Kai swore. "He must be taking out his frustration with me on Tyson. This time I'm not going to go easy on him."

"What did you do?" Tala eyed his cousin as the three of them walked to the car parking lot.

"What the hell do you mean what did I do?" Kai scowled.

"Tala has a point, Kai. You had to be involved somehow for this fight to esclate," Kenny admitted.

"Pardon my saying, but I was minding my own business that day," Kai replied. "It was Tyson's boyfriend who allowed his friends to obscure his better judgment and try to gang up on me in an attempt to teach me some so called lesson meaningless lesson towards existing in the world or something like that."

"I don't know whether I believe you," Tala commented.

"Kai…are you certain that's what happened?" Kenny wondered.

"Why would I lie? I own up to things I have done, sure I might have roughed up the bunch a bit…all right, it felt incredible to get out some of my frustration with Tyson choosing to be with someone like that, but might I add he and his friends initiated the fight, I only concluded it."

"You could have backed down," Kenny sighed.

"To allow them assess to gang up on my regardless? I'm sorry Kenny, but when someone starts a fight with me, I make sure I teach them that it was a foolish move. I made sure I didn't break anything after all," Kai smirked.

"Let's just hope that you haven't done too much damage," Kenny shook his head.

_**-oooooo-**_

Rim: All right, that was like such a teenage soap opera going on. Such angst and drama…well considering this is me, I suppose I can only say, well yeah. All right, the next three or four chapters are going to be catalyst for everything else and the secret behind what happened to Kai and Tala. Hopefully I can be finished by July, now onwards to other things.


	24. Chapter 24

Rim: I think with a little push that we can have this thing finished by some time in August. I know hear the gasps…which isn't funny. Right, so how about I just continue with what I planned to do. All right my fans, this chapter finally gets to the heart of the matter that I know has been on your minds: Tala and Kai's disappearance part one.

_**---oooooo---**_

Kenny was on pins and needles as he, Tala, and Kai headed towards the university campus; frightened at all the scenarios playing in his head as to what could have happened between Tyson and Ozuma. Was there just an argument, or was there a fight of some kind? Was his cousin injured some way other than the broken heart he was surely nursing now. Sitting back, Kenny exhaled softly, shifting his eyes to the front seat where Kai was. The dual haired bluenette looked to be on as many needles as Kenny currently was. From his posture and stiffness, there was a heavy emphasis that Kai was furious with Ozuma for taking their confrontation out on Tyson.

Even though Kai said he did not initiate the fight, it made Kenny question just how much an involvement did Kai have. Did he provoked Ozuma and his friends somehow? Was it something that he said to set them off? Or perhaps maybe Kai was telling the absolute truth and Ozuma and his friends provoked Kai into taking the situation into his hands. Kenny did not know Kai so well, and only Tyson could decipher whether or not Kai was in fact telling the truth about this matter.

"Kenny," Tala said quietly, breaking through the brunette's mental scrutiny.

"Yes?" Blinking back his thought, Kenny turned his eyes on Tala who turned around in his chair to look at Kenny. Those icy eyes still remained indistinctive, not telling Kenny whatever it was that was on Tala's mind.

"How much further before we get to the campus?" Tala questioned.

"Just another block up here, then you'll need to turn right. The bus stop leading to the campus will be two minutes the turn. Tyson should be waiting at the stop," Kenny said. Tala said nothing to this, turning his eyes on Kai momentarily before looking forward once again.

The silence of the car settled again as Kai followed Kenny's directions turning right and traveling down the road. To say that he was angry was a huge understatement, his blood boiled to the point of murder. It was going to take more than a half assed phone threat to the police to get Kai from ripping out the bastard's heart for hurting Tyson. Kai didn't care how many times he might have been insulted, he could shrug it off without problems. However, this asshole made the mistake of taking out his frustrations on Tyson.

"Kai, pull over, there he is," Kenny said, breaking through Kai's vehement thoughts of murdering Ozuma in various slow torturous ways that would give him a greater satisfaction. Kai's eyes flitted across the scenery, spotting a blue haired figure slumped on the bench by the bus stop, head turned downwards into closed palms that rested on weary looking legs. Tyson's shoulders shook violently, the teen oblivious to his surroundings.

Kai's rage flared worst than before, seeing his angel in such a dismal state. Silently swearing to make sure that Ozuma's death was felt even in Heaven, Kai maneuvered the car to park alongside the road. Cutting off the engine, he and the other two within the car got out, approaching Tyson.

"Tyson, what happened?" Kenny sat down beside his cousin, wrapping his arms around the bluenette, who produced a snuffling sound at the contact. Pulling his head from his hands, Tyson's watery eyes shifted his vision to Kenny.

"Kenny." Tyson whimpered, clinging to his cousin, resting his head against Kenny as he tried finding his center of calm. Kai turned from the scene, his eyes in the direction of the university. Narrowing his eyes, he made a clear conscious decision that pulling Ozuma's arms and legs from his body with as much breaking of bones, tearing muscles and dislocation might get him through the first wave of red he was seeing.

After the arms and legs were gone, Kai could improvise with figuring out how to sate the rest of his wrath. With a plan in mind, Kai would have went stalking his prey had a hand not gripped his arm, holding him in place. His eyes moved to the person the hand belonged to, seeing Tala mirroring his own frown. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kai said coolly.

"Do you really think it's wise for you go off and mutilate him? Shouldn't your first priority be Tyson?" Tala quizzed.

"If Kenny's boyfriend broke up with him and left him in a sniveling heap somewhere, what would you do?" Kai quirked a brow.

"I would hunt the bastard down and dismember him in the most painful way I can find," Tala scowled at the very thought of it.

"My point made, so why are you stopping me," Kai wondered.

"I would do that after securing Kenny," Tala added in, releasing his cousin's arm. "There's always chances to see him on the street and rip his head off and shoving it up his ass for him. Now what's top priority here?"

"He's right," Kenny spoke up. "Tyson is first priority here, Ozuma will get what he has coming to him. Let's get Ty somewhere out of the open."

"No!" Tyson shouted, his voice pinched with a sob. "I don't want to go anywhere with him, I refuse!"

"Tyson…" Kai walked over to where Kenny held Tyson, positioning himself on the other side of Tyson. Gently prying the bluenette away from Kenny, Kai expected the fists that half heartedly pounded on his chest, Tyson trying to yank away from him. Kai held his grip steady, allowing Tyson to vent his anger.

"It's your fault he broke up with me! How could you start a fight with him? How? Tell me what were you thinking doing something like that?" Tyson cried. "I thought you would never do something like this to get me back!"

"That asshole told you that?" Kai chuckled. "I should have figured a coward like that would tell you that I initiated the fight. Tyson, look at me."

"No!" Tyson averted his eyes, continuing to fight Kai.

"Look at me, Tyson," Kai ordered.

"No."

"Tyson! Look at me. Do you really believe I would do something like that, no matter how much I know that he doesn't deserve you? Look me in the eyes and tell me that you believe him over me? The same person who has hurt you?" Kai questioned, his grip on Tyson remained firm as the said bluenette finally looked up at Kai. Searching his eyes for some hint of truth. Whatever he found there only caused his eyes to blur more with tears, that ran down the wet crevices of his cheeks.

"Let's get out of here," Tala suggested. "You two can carry on this soap in the car and back at our place. Now come on."

"You really have a way with words," Kenny shook his head. Tala turned his eyes to Kenny, a slow smirk curling the corners of his lips.

"I'm glad you notice." With another shake of his head, Kenny got up from where he sat, Kai coaxing Tyson to stand with a few soothing words in his ear. The small crisis was over, at least for the time being, Kenny thought. Now he just had to worry about Tala with his indistinctive stares. He was on edge to know what went on behind those artic eyes.

"Give them the back seat, you'll sit up front with me," Tala said.

"Huh? Oh, sure." Tala snagged the car keys from Kai, opening the door and climbing into the driver's seat. Kenny followed suit, climbing into the front passenger's seat while Tyson occupied the back with Kai. Once everyone was settled into place, Tala stuck the key into the ignition, starting the car. Taking the car out of park, Tala pulled away from the curb, taking the car back the way they came. The ride was mostly silence save for the soft whispers and quiet crying in the backseat. Tala and Kenny were both caught in their thoughts, neither speaking a word to the other. Exactly when would they get down to the real matter that plagued them?

_**--oooo--**_

"So, what do you think of it from what you've seen?" Tala walked up to the brunette who stood by the window of the living room, watching the cars drive past on the street. Kenny tilted his head to the side, blinking slowly as he came out of thought. He hadn't realized that Tala was close by. The red head had wandered off the minute they came to the two story house, saying he wanted to get comfortable whilst waiting for Kai to settle Tyson down.

"I had no idea you were in here," Kenny said, turning away from the window as Tala came to stand to his right. "I thought you were still upstairs in your room."

"I've been watching you for a while, I hope you haven't mind."

"Not at all," Kenny smiled softly. "It's really a beautiful house, Tala. I really am happy with the way things are going for you and Kai. Speaking of Kai--"

"He's in his room screwing your cousin," Tala commented, his eyes locking with Kenny's finding the brunette blush at the blunt comment. "I expect you're thinking that my cousin taking advantage of Tyson in the state of mind he's in is a bit unfair, but do you really expect either one of us to play by the rules when it comes to getting you back."

"Tala…" Kenny took a step back from Tala, only to have the red head reach out, pulling him forward. Tala swooped down, claiming Kenny's mouth for his own as he held his former lover in place. Squeezing his eyes shut, Kenny made a soft noise in the back of his throat, refusing to give Tala the satisfaction of a moan, nevertheless sparks shot through his body, electrifying every nerve. The soft pressure, the scent of the taller male, the want between them was unmistakable.

"I don't want to keep waiting for you," Tala sighed, pulling back and resting his forehead against Kenny's, closing his eyes. "It isn't fair that Kai has nothing left to keep Tyson from him, but you…"

"Tala, I'm sorry." Kenny averted his eyes again, reaching up to stroke a warm cheek, hearing Tala exhale sharply. "I can't just abandon Michael, I love him."

"More than you ever loved me?" Tala opened his eyes, blue eyes darkening with pain.

"No one could ever erase what I feel for you Tala, but he means as much to me as you do. He's helped me to smile again, to feel something other than pain and lonely when I was without you." Kenny leaned upwards, brushing his lips tenderly to Tala's forehead. Tala wrapped his arms around his angel. He couldn't let go, he didn't want to let go. The man he held was the only thing that kept his soul afloat. Without Kenny, there was no reason in the world he should live.

"That day…all I could think was that I had made you a promise, that I broke it. That I hoped you could forgive me for it," Tala murmured.

"What? I don't understand."

"I wanted to keep going, but I was tired of fighting. I was tired of hurting, of being hurt and betrayed. I just waited for him to pull the trigger again…maybe this time he would put a bullet in my head or heart."

"Y-your uncle?" Tala gave a short nod, clinging to Kenny as a lifeline. "What happened that day Tala? Please tell me what happened."

"He was looking for the key to a safety deposit box my parents left me in their death. Over the years the bonds and stocks have been collecting interest, it's a nice little wealth that could support us for the rest of our lives, and that bastard wanted to take it away for his own vindictive reasons. I could have just left…but I tried saving my aunt and a maid who made the mistake of crossing his path. He killed them both, then came after me…doing all he could to make me tell him where the key was. I wouldn't relinquish it's location…"

**-ooo-**

"_Why…why must we…?" Tala said, tears streaking his face._

"_I told you. I'm going to make you suffer every day you've lived." Boris kicked the gun from Tala's hands, the weapon clattering away from them while Boris aimed the nozzle of the gun at Tala's other shoulder. The explosion was much the same, drawing Tala back to the edge of unconsciousness before a sharp stomp to the ribcage brought him back. By now, Tala was halfway out of it anyway._

_His mind was slowly shutting down. Where the hell was Kai? Why wasn't he there? Had something happened to him? What was going to happen to him if Kai didn't come? Who was going to tell Kenny what happened? _

_Kenny…_

_He wasn't going to see that smile again, he promised that he was going to wait for Kenny to graduate. How was he supposed to see that now? Just when he thought that life was turning around for him, it threw him back in his cage._

'_Kenny…Kenny…I made you a promise…but I can't keep it, I'm sorry…' Tala's eyes closed, being too tired to resist, and having lost too much blood. Hearing the click of the gun once more, Tala just waited for another rush of pain, but when the shot was fired, he heard a strangled cry, as warm rivets of liquid splattered over him. He didn't care he was way too tired to right now. He just hoped that…maybe…if Kenny found out…he wouldn't cry so much. 'Forgive me, please Kenny.'_

"_Tala! Tala, hang on!" Kai's voice floated above Tala's head somewhere. His eyes too heavy to open and see his cousin one last time, even if it was a look of grief in his best friend's eyes. "I'll call Judy and get help, hang on! Are you listening to me Tala, hang in there!" _

_Kai's eyes tear when he realized he wasn't getting a response. He should have gotten there sooner, he could have made a difference. Gripping the bloody shirt tighter, he shook with anger and sorrow, his breath choking in his throat. What could he do to bring the other back? _

"_Damn you Tala, don't leave me alone in this world. Don't you fucking die on me and break your promise to Kenny."_

"_Kai!" Hannah entered the room, halting to a stop when she saw the destruction in the room. Her hands flew to her mouth, staggering back with a startled moan. How could one man be so heartless to destroy so many lives. Kai's eyes turned to the maid, as she got the nerve to make her way towards him, ignoring the death around her. "Is Tala all right?"_

"_I don't know…I don't…he won't respond to me. There's so much blood." Kai shook his head. "I should have been with him, I should have been able to do something to stop this from happening. I should have--"_

"_There was nothing you could have done to make certain that Boris never figured this was the only way," Hannah assured, wrapping her arms around the shaking teen. Her eyes went down to the unconscious teen sadly. Why did it have to end like this? What on earth was so important that so many people had to die? "We have to call the police, Kai."_

"_Call the police?" Kai pushed away from the woman, staring at her with bitter humor. "And tell them what? My uncle went insane and killed his wife and nephew? For what reason? Tell me that, woman? What are we going to tell the police that they will believe from someone like me! My prints are all over that gun, I'm sure so are Tala's. If anything, my ass will be hauled in and sent to prison for this."_

"_Kai, what do you plan to do then?" Hannah asked desperately. "You have nowhere to go, even when the police find out that you're alive, they are going to hunt you down, assuming you were the one that went insane, killing everyone!"_

"_I'm not turning myself in to the police for questioning," Kai glared. "There's always a way out of this…I'll just take Tala and find it."_

"_Kai! Think about what you're saying! Don't you think it's better if at least you do the right thing. They will not look at you like you're the criminal here!" Hannah begged._

"_The people of this town have convicted us time and time again. What will make this time any different if one of us lives? I'm not turning myself in. I'm not being separated from him," Kai muttered, drawing Tala into his arms as the unconscious teen gave a meek sound of pain, causing Kai's eyes to widen. Hannah's eyes were drawn to the red head also, another sound escaping pale lips._

"_He's alive…you fucker, you scared the hell out of me," Kai murmured, pressing the limp head to his chest. "I was ready to kick your ass."_

"_We need to get him medical help," Hannah said, getting up from her place next to Kai. "I'll call for an ambulance."_

"_No, you can't."_

"_Kai, honestly, do you want him to die here of blood loss?"_

"_Listen to me you stupid woman. What do you think is going to happen to me when they get here? I'm going to be brought in for questioning and most likely arrested, brought up on charges, and I'll never see Tala again. Who knows, they might think he's an accomplice to whatever happened here, and when he's better, ship him off to prison with me. Yes, there's a chance I'll see him again, but we made promises to two very important individuals. I don't intend to allow anything to hinder our decision."_

"_At least go to Doctor Tate! She's always helped you out before." Hannah continued to beg relentlessly with the boy. Why wouldn't they ever listen to what she said. She was only concerned about them._

"_I really wish it was so easy to go to her. I can't get her involved with this. Not with ridicule from the town. This is her home, this is where her practice and family are. In a small town like this, people don't have murders on large scales like this. How do you think they will take someone who sides with so called murderers? I'd never see her ostracized for her kindness."_

"_What do you plan on doing then?"_

"_The only thing that I can think of."_

**-ooo-**

"Tala." Kenny reached up from where they now resided under the window to wrap his arms around the red head's neck in comfort and support. Kenny was tucked into Tala's lap, listening to the truth finally come out about what happened three years ago on the summer they found each other. Tala lowered his sight down at the brunette who cried for him. Cried when no one else had ever gave a damn other than Doctor Tate. He needed Kenny's entire support, he was only at the tip of the iceberg.

"Kai told me that the maid, Hannah, eventually gave up with his stubborn notion not to get anyone from town involved. It would have caused too much commotion had others known," Tala continued. "He was always a stubborn bastard like that when he wanted to be. It's thoughtful he was mindful in keeping trouble at a minimum."

"But you were losing so much blood, where did he take you? How did you survive?"

"My uncle, he had a private doctor who lived nearby. He hated Doctor Tate, so going to her was never an option. Kai told me he called that man, saying that our uncle needed him to look at something. The man came thinking that it was a minor ordeal, you can only imagine what his mindset was when he found that massacre. Kai had to threaten him to take me somewhere and treat me," Tala responded.

"Is there another private hospital around besides Doctor Tate's?" Tala nodded to the question. "So, you were operated on there. That's how nobody else knew you were alive."

"That's the basis of it."

"Tala," Kenny said after a brief moment of silence. "When Tyson and I went back to see everyone and we told Judy you were still alive, we asked her some questions. We didn't want to be ill-prepared for what you had to say about three years ago. When we learned you were supposedly found in a ditch dead…it broke our hearts. When we discovered you were alive…things began falling apart with what we were told. There were so many questions as to who found you, why if you were alive didn't you come back to us…"

"Had we been able to contact you earlier, we would have," Tala assured, kissing Kenny. Kenny pulled out of the kiss, staring straight into eyes which seemed to see into his soul.

"We found out from Judy that it was your grandfather who came from Russia. Who took your 'bodies' back to be buried," Kenny replied.

"He was the one, along with Kai's parents. It was grandfather however who handled everything before shipping us back to Russia to heal until we were better."

"The exact same grandfather who hated you because your mother married against his better judgment?" Tala seemed slightly shocked Kenny knew this information, then he realized that Judy had in fact knew just how much Voltaire hated his bastard of a grandson. Though he never openly showed his scorn for Kai at being disobedient, it remained an obvious emotion to both boys.

"He didn't bat one eye at my mother's funeral. He sat stiffly through the entire service without a word then left. He didn't even console me. Kai remained at my side until his parents literally dragged him from my side. I was left to be pushed around by people who didn't want me, until my Aunt Irene stepped forward in her grief and exclaimed she would not have me shipped around. Against my uncle's protests, I was taken into their house. I often wish now, I was just shipped around like Kai was…but then, I might not have ever met you," Tala whispered, placing his face into the soft mass of hair he loved.

"Wasn't there any other choice? Couldn't he have made some choice that didn't send you into the lion's mouth?"

"What other choice did he have but call that man? No one else would have came. Kai's own parents have washed their hands of him plenty of times, that's why he was always shipped around between family members. He was the lucky one. Our grandfather would have made him welcome into the family if not for me," Tala chuckled sullenly.

"What do you mean?" Kenny asked.

"Kai was supposed to be heir to our entire family and take over when grandfather died. Grandfather hated Kai for not taking his rightful place in the family, because of me. Because he would not leave me alone in this world to fend for myself. He would not cut his ties and allegiance to me or my parents. When we first met so long ago, he was lonely…I saved him from it. He felt he could be himself with us. My parents even went to Russia in order to speak with his parents into adopting him since they treated him more as a way to become wealthier than a son.

"After my parents died, he acted out, he hated the family. Grandfather saw he wasn't going to be obedient, and took him out of the will. His parents scorned him for it, wanted to wipe their hands clean and maybe try for another child to get in favor with grandfather again. Nobody wanted him because he wasn't going to bring them any fortune from grandfather. They tolerated his presence for a while, shipped him along to other family members when he inconvenienced them, the process occurring time and time again until he wound up with me for a couple of months or back to his parents. He tried running away plenty of times, he was always found and brought back."

"Tala, tell me what happened when he came for you," Kenny begged quietly. "You promised me you would tell me everything. I want to know exactly what you went through in these last few years in Russia. I want to be there for you. I want to erase the darkness and hopelessness that was placed in you. I want to be there to pull you back into the light. I don't ever want to see your eyes so haunted as they are now."

"When I tell you everything, do you really believe things will be all right? How can you be there with me when it's only now that I can hold you?" Tala inquired.

"I want to try. Let me try," Kenny requested. Giving in to the pleading eyes which stared up at him, Tala exhaled once again, burying his face deeper into the mass of hair. Inhaling the prepossessing scent that eased his soul.

"I was unconscious for several days. When I woke up, we were already in Russia. They allowed Kai to remain at my bedside who told me he had no other choice. He found the key to the safety box in my shoe, and hid it so no one else would know about it. His face was bruised from the beating I was to receive…" Tala trailed off his eyes darkening at the memories scarring fresh in his mind.

"Tala…" Sensing the change in the red head, Kenny lifted his head, seeing the darkness returning, the haunting memories flickering to the surface. "Tala, tell me."

_**---oooooo---**_

Rim: All right, I shall save really good stuff for later next week. That's right my friends, you won't have to wait months to discover what happened to Tala and Kai. Most of you probably already have an idea, however, there's more to this scene than any of you know.


	25. Chapter 25

Rim: Hm…what can I really say about this chapter that won't spoil it for those about to read it? I suppose I should say nothing since I really don't feel like it. Though I'm wondering if I can fit everything that happens to them in this chapter and the next. Probably not, so how about I just write this as it goes until it decides to work its way to a conclusion. Right, moving on now, here's the next part in Tala and Kai's past three years.

_**--oooooo--**_

Staring up at the ceiling, he no longer minded the same four walls that he woke up to and dozed off into sleep staring at. There was nothing else to do after all. The window which was bolted shut provided no clear view of anything other than the wild vegetation and rabid vines that spider crawled over the entire window. The only other furniture in the room besides the bed was a battered nightstand that had seen better days, a rickety chair which would likely fall to pieces with enough weight applied to it, and a small clothing chest containing the minuscule amount of clothing Kai managed to pack away for them before their grandfather rushed them off to Russia. Nothing provided a means to pass away the hours whilst Kai unwillingly was forced into audience with their grandfather.

Shifting his eyes to the said window, the red head slowly sat up, minding the sore wounds which were healing faster than anyone expected. The doctor that worked on him did a great job. There was a high percentage of only light scarring would be left once he healed completely.

Transferring his thoughts away, he lamented about a nice hot shower. The last time he was allowed anything of the sort was the lukewarm sponge bathes his cousin gave him to keep the wounds from becoming infected. The lye soap gave no comfort in feeling clean, rather like a sterilized piece of equipment. Combing a hand through his matted hair, he grimaced. Lye shampoo didn't go well with cleaning a head. He wanted shampoo, hot water, and some damn good soap; nevertheless he was in no position whatsoever to make that sort of demand or request.

He and his cousin Kai were outcasts within their family, more so now that his uncle Boris was killed by his cousin. He suspected that his uncle eventually would have killed him, if not that summer than another time period, covering up the murder and collecting the money which the young man's parents had left to him in a safety box. His uncle had never liked him because he was the product of a marriage which was never approved of by the family. For his family, marriage was all about power, not love; a chance to raise personal wealth. His own cousin was in fact a product of such upbringings. However the two of them were kindred spirits, they had stuck together through the rough times, the fights, and the abuse.

Only to end up here, in Russia, their backs against the wall to carry the burden of what was done in order to be with two individuals that had bothered to see past the lies, the rumors surrounding their lives, and reached out their hands to stop them from falling further into ruin. At the thought of the brunette with the vibrant eyes, the red head shifted his eyes to the bandages covering his arms; more bandages covered his ribs and shoulders which needed to be changed soon. He couldn't do the entire job himself without difficulty. He needed his cousin's assistance.

At that thought, footsteps could be heard approaching the door, lowering himself onto the bed, closing his eyes, he feigned sleep. He once heard his grandfather say that the moment he was awake and lucid enough to understand the course of his actions, his punishment would begin. The red head feared what sort of punishment could possibly be within the old man's head, but he was certain it was worst than any treatment he received from his uncle while the man was alive. A part of him scoffed at being a coward in allowing his cousin to take all punishment for their consequences; however he could not stop himself from doing all he could not to be beat. His entire life since his parents' death, the only thing he ever knew was waking up knowing he only looked forward to more bruises from his uncle or his aunt molesting him. He hated the feeling, only wanting to escape it now.

The heavy lock on the door was disengaged, the rusty hinges groaning in protest at being opened as footsteps entered the room. One pair stopped in the doorway, as the second pair, shuffled into the door, stopping by the bed. The red head could feel eyes on him, his body giving an apprehensive tremble he hoped was not visible to the person watching him. Was it his cousin who eyed him, or perhaps his grandfather studying him to decide if he was in fact unconscious or feigning it? The footsteps in the doorway left closing the squeaking door and engaging the lock in place.

"Tala." The red head opened his eyes, hearing the shushed tone of his cousin calling out to him. Opening his eyes slowly, Tala stared up at the dual haired teen standing beside the bed. Sitting up, he reached out to the only other person who had stuck by him for so long. The dual haired teen lowered himself onto the bed, into the arms of his cousin who held him gingerly, minding the dark purple and blue bruises sporting his bare arms, neck, and face.

"I'm sorry, Kai," Tala breathed.

"Stop apologizing to me," Kai replied, turning his face into the crook of Tala's neck, closing his sore eyes. By the next day, his right eye would be completely shut and swollen from the angry fists which had pounded into his face only half an hour ago.

"Did they break it?" Tala inquired, looking down at the blood which crusted around his cousin's nose, a small trickle still ran, but didn't make it further than his lower lip before Tala reached up and wiped it away with his hand. Kai winced in pain, Tala retracting his hand.

"It hurts…but he didn't break it?" Kai answered.

"Grandfather?"

"No, my father. Grandfather had other business to attend to." Kai wrapped his arms around his cousin's waist, hugging closer to his body heat for comfort. "He knows you've been feigning sleep every time he's come. He's about ready to begin on you. I've asked for more time for you."

"Why?" Tala demanded, his eyes darkening in pain to see that his cousin was taking the brunt of punishment for his actions. "Why the hell would you do something stupid like that, you asshole?"

"Because…" Kai opened his eyes, a weak smile on his face. "You're still injured, if he beats you know, there's no telling what type of damage he could do. I promised myself that no matter what, I was going to keep you whole for Kenny. We're going to make it back to them no matter what."

"Who's going to keep you whole if you take my burden, for that idiotic monkey that you are willing to risk your life for?" Tala muttered, laying his face against the top of Kai's head protectively. "We have no choice but to look out for each other now, so we can fulfill our promise to them."

"If I allow you to take your half of the burden, I'm afraid of what grandfather will do. We both know that he despises you because you take so much after your father. He's not going to hesitate to make sure that you've been broken completely. I don't want that to happen to you," Kai remarked.

"You can't protect me forever, Kai. Eventually he's going to come after me whether you're here or not. It's only a matter of time before that occurs. I'm prepared for whatever comes," Tala assured, though in his mind he wondered exactly if that statement was to assure his cousin or his own being. Would he really be ready for what occurred? Were the years of abuse at the hands of his uncle enough preparation for the hell that he would face when the time came? Pushing the thoughts from his mind, Tala decided to change the subject. "Kai, I need my bandages changed."

"Huh?" Kai shifted his head to stare at the red head.

"I can't do it by myself, I need your help," Tala replied, removing his arms from his cousin who sat up. Understanding that his cousin wanted to change the subject to stave off the dark thoughts waiting in the back of his own mind, he set to work removing the old pieces of clothe. The two of them worked in silence, discarding the used material to a small pile in the far corner of the room. Once the task was completely, the two laid on the bed together, staring at the ceiling. Neither said a word, allowing their presences to comfort each other until they both were lulled into a nap. When Tala came around, he noticed Kai's absence beside him.

Facing the empty side of the bed, he stared at the silver tray containing food that was situated on the nightstand by the bed. Not bothering to move towards it when his stomach growled, he closed his eyes. He could imagine the bread scrapes were still more than two weeks old and stale, the soup his grandfather provided was no more bitter and ice cold than it was for breakfast, nor was the cheese less molded than dinner the previous night. They were the scrapes of a dog, his pride hurt every time he was forced to nourish himself on the meager meals thrown his way. His stomach growled rumbled again, Tala ignoring it, refusing to be their dog. Pushing back into slumber, it lasted long enough to realize that Kai was back in the room when he came to. The dual haired teen was sitting on the side of the bed staring down at him. A short smile rested on his face as he pulled out a cloth. Tala's stomach rumbled once again, the smell of fresh bread wafting the air.

"I had a feeling that you weren't going to touch the food, so I managed to sneak some out for you," Kai said softly, averting his eyes with guilt that he was allowed to eat a decent meal with his grandfather and parents whilst the one person who had never casted him aside was suffering on the scrapes of a stray animal. Every now and then he was able to sneak out food, more when he ate alone and ushered back to the room by one of the butlers or maids.

"Don't be ashamed they treat you better than me. We've always known it would be this way," Tala commented, sitting up, taking the offered food. "If they were opposed to the both of us, we would both be living off those scrapes. Let's consider it our good fortune, rather than anything else."

Kai only nodded, falling silent as Tala ate. Neither had much to say after that, resigning to resume lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling until slumber took over them once again. After all, what was there really for them to discuss which would not bring up their present situation? As time ticked away, Tala's eyes closed once again, boredom settling in, lulling him into a lethargic state of mind. Every now and then he heard Kai shift next to him, the dual bluenette moving closer to his warmth for security.

"Tala…you still awake?"

"Hm?" Tala murmured.

"Nothing, I just wondered if you were still awake," Kai said, feeling his cousin shake with stifled laughter. A smile quirked his mouth, Kai glad that some sort of humor was still able to coexist between them despite their situation. There were so few moments in the past few weeks that smiles showed.

"Idiot, get some rest. Tomorrow is a new day, we're going to need what little energy we can spare to look at it straight forward," Tala advised, feeling Kai nodded his head somberly. "Night Kai…"

"Night Tala…"

Sleep seemed to be the only time where everything gave way to dreams, of a future with the person who could shelter them from their hearts. Dreams were a minor escape from the gravity of the predicament weighing heavy on their shoulders. Sleep was also the only place that nothing could reach or hurt them. So when nightmares of shadows clasping Tala came, he was more than distraught by this. Awakening fully from sleep, Tala's body shot up into a rigid position; a light sheen of sweat coating his body. Turning wide eyes towards the window, it was dark outside, however he still could not figure out why he was plagued with such heinous dreams.

His body shivered. Something in the room was wrong. Something was happening and his body instinctually was trying to warn him of the present danger. Feeling around the bed, he panicked slightly when he found Kai missing.

"Kai," Tala called into the darkness, receiving no answer. "Kai, where are you?" The silence of the room was his only response as Tala slid from the bed, using the light from the moon to make his way around the room to the old oil lantern on the far end of the room. Reaching out for it, Tala removed the glass covering, striking the piece of flint for a spark of fire to light the wick. Once there was a soft glow in the room, Tala turned to observe the room to see if by chance his cousin might have needed a bit of time to himself. Tala only discovered that he was the only person within that room, which only meant that their grandfather had come to take his cousin away. For what reason was beyond the red head.

Time seemed to tick as Tala resigned himself to wait up to see if his cousin would be brought back. Tala had no idea just how long he was waiting before the door to the room groaned open. Anxiety brimmed over finding his grandfather shuffle into the room. Voltaire was an imposing figure even now that Tala was grown. As a child he was a huge man who towered over anyone within the family with his presence. Kai had once told him when they were younger that the man gave him nightmares. It was understandable, considering the permanent scowl furling his face into a mask of hatred and contempt. His cold gray eyes scorched Tala who tried to shrink under the scrutinizing study. Behind the man stood a giant of a butler, his long face held no emotion; his hollow, sunken eyes seemed to shine with darkness, as if this being was manifested from the pitch blackness he stood against.

"So you're finally awake boy, not that you were fooling anyone with that little act of yours," Voltaire scoffed, shuffling up to the bed where Tala eased away subconsciously.

"Where's Kai?" Tala inquired, keeping his eyes on the man coming near him.

"That is none of your concern, you bastard whelp." Raising his cane, the old man whacked the boy over the head with the sound mahogany wood. Tala gave a sharp cry, grabbing his head as tears sprung to his eyes. Moving away from the man, he was caught across the leg with the weapon. Drawing up his limbs, the young man stared with wide eyes at the old man. "You've influenced him for the last time. You have no place within this family. You look exactly like that filth who took my pearl from this family."

"I have no control over that," Tala whispered, only to catch the end of the cane against his legs again. Bringing his body into a tighter ball, he lowered his head, preparing for another blow that never came. Hesitantly glancing up, he found the man glowering at him, his body tense with anger. The cane raised high, but he did not crash it down over the boy's head. Instead he lowered the object, shuffling back as if he were afraid Tala would spring from the bed and begin to tear into him.

"That man took away the one thing that meant everything to me. I shall never forgive him for it, because you carry his blood, I will forever despise your every existence, whelp," Voltaire replied. "Kai was foolish to believe that I would take you both in without reconciliation. Nobody in this family wants you. In fact, to everyone other than me and Kai's parents, you do not exist. It shall remain that way until my death, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, grandfather," Tala murmured, tightly clenching his legs to his chest. He had always known that from the time he was small. He had come to terms with it, hadn't he? So why were hot tears trickling down his face, blurring his vision. Why was the pain coming back again? He had told himself long ago he knew all this, so why was it so painful now?

"You will only see Kai when I say you can see him. You will hear nothing about him, unless I want you to hear something. You will have no contact other than what I deem," Voltaire replied harshly. "There is no escaping from your destiny boy. It's futile to think that you shall be spared from your crimes."

"Yes, grandfather," Tala repeated, the hot tears continuing to rush from some corner that had cracked in his heart.

"William, take the boy," Voltaire ordered, to the tall butler standing stoically by. Tala's head lifted immediately, finding the giant moving towards him. Making a move to push from the bed, the red head had no time to move as he was yanked up by an arm, the rest of his body dangling an inch from the ground. Thrashing a little, Tala caught a backhand from the butler who said nothing.

"Let go!" Tala said, piping down even as another backhand was distributed to him.

"Unless you want another one boy, you will silence your tongue. You are in no position to make demands of anyone," Voltaire barked, as he shuffled past the butler out the room. The tall man followed behind, being dragged along as if he were a rag doll. No one made a sound in the darken hallways, only footsteps echoing on the old stone floors. Tala tried to locate where they were going, but the darkness did not let up, nothing distinguishable other than the staircases they went up let him know exactly where he was going. Tala wondered where Kai was. Could his cousin possibly have gone this same pathway while Tala slept unaware? Why hadn't he wakened to do something to save his friend?

"Here." Tala heard his grandfather say, as a rusty door was opened. The old man shuffled to the side, glowering once more at him. The butler stepped forward, releasing Tala to stand on his own two feet. Tala winced from the pain of being pulled along by his sore arms in such a manner.

"You're staying in here now." The butler's cold, monotone voice pierced the darkness as he shoved Tala into the dark room. Tala blinked, spinning around as the door closed, creating a cavernous atmosphere around him. He felt he was standing in a dream, that he might still be asleep despite the soreness in his arm, head, and legs. Of course all this might be in effect of night or the whirlwind events which just happened. Still his mind tried to process what happened in a matter of brief minutes; the effort futile. Nothing seemed to make sense as to way things suddenly changed without warning. Rushing to the doorknob, he gripped it; the icy object in his palm sent a shock of reality into his system, finding that it would not budge.

"What about Kai! What are you doing to Kai?" Tala shouted, hoping to receive an answer, even a threatening one for not being silent. He had to find out where he cousin was. "Answer me! What do you plan to do with Kai?"

Silence barracked him in, his pounding echoing off the walls of the old empty hallway. Time slowly grounded itself to a halt, trapping him within another space separate from the outside world. However long his pounding persisted remained rivaled by the silence on the other side of the door. Eventually when his fists were too numb and sore to remain pounding on the hard oak wood, Tala wheeled back away from the door, to study his surroundings in hope that he could find a way out to look for Kai.

Roaming his eyes over the darkened shadows in the room, he put his hands out in front of him, feeling for a table or desk; anything that might contain a small lamp of some sort. Shuffling forward, he prayed they hadn't left him in such a dark, dank smelling place with no lights. He had no problem with the dark, but being in a new environment he wasn't accustomed to caused paranoia to hang above his head, pressing down on him relentlessly.

"Lamp…there has to be one…there has to be…" he mumbled to himself, moving to the wall, searching for a light switch he had yet to find. Panic clawed at him, his search speeding up at the level of hysteria slowly rising. "Why don't I feel one…why…?"

The longer he searched his hope of finding light dwindled to nothing as he crashed into something against the wall. Falling forward, onto the moldy smelling object, Tala pushed off of it, falling to the floor as something scuttled pass his hand. Quickly scrambling up, he heard another scamper away from him to his left. Something else rushed across his bare foot, Tala retracting himself away from whatever was sharing the dark space with him. Reaching out his hand to feel icy metal, he assumed what he had landed on was an old-and very decrepit-bed.

Climbing onto the musty smelling object, he drew his knees up to his chest, listening to something scuttle under the bed and remained there for a time before scampering to another side of the room. Somewhere else in the room, there was a low gnawing sound. In the silence it seemed much louder than it probably was. Tala covered his ears to block out the noise. Laying his head on his knees, Tala closed his eyes, his bare back against the chilly metal. Was this going to be his prison now? Would he ever get to his see Kai? Where was Kai?

_**--ooo--**_

Kai opened his sore eyes when the sun push passed the thin tattered curtains, striking him in the face. Turning over on his back, he stared up at the molded ceiling, not really seeing it. The night before his grandfather had come and yanked him out of bed with Tala, dragging him off to some other wing in the large 17th century Russian mansion. This was now his prison, his grandfather telling him that he was going to break his dependence of Tala and make him respective heir to the Hiwatari family. In that darkness, he had beat Kai when he refused, until his grandson lay sobbing on the ground, covered in more bruises.

The old man had left him to lay there, until the chill from the room seeped into his body. Struggling against his protesting body, he clambered onto the stiff, moldering bed in the center of the room. Insecure without Tala's presence, Kai forced himself to sleep, praying that when he woke up the next more, perhaps it was all just a dream, and he would not be alone.

Thought of those bruises, Kai's entire body felt like one large tenderized steak. Difficulty moving acquiesced resolve to not bother with the details of moving. Instead, he thought of his cousin, wondering if their grandfather had done something of the sort to Tala. He worried that the old man had taken to his friend with an unsound vengeance against the man which married Tala's mother.

The sound of the door opening to the room broke through Kai's contemplations. Tilting his head to the side, the dual bluenette was shocked to find his mother walking into the room, her face pulled into a stern poker face. He had always favored his mother more; the hair, eyes, even down to how he often frowned. Closing the door gently, she locked eyes with her son. A son she had no time to raise with worrying about the security of her future wealth in the Hiwatari family.

Why she was there raised curiosity in him. She didn't care if her own son was alive or dead pass whether she would one day inherit the entire Hiwatari state through her puppet: him. To visit the child she neglected when she realized he would not be her obedient lap dog was unheard of for the woman. Was it too much to ask that she found her heart and was worried towards his well being now?

"You look like shit," she said in disgust, wrinkling up her nose at the sight of her son.

"That's what happens when you're hit repeatedly," Kai commented, his voice edged slightly with sarcasm.

"Don't you take that tone with me boy," his mother glared. "I gave birth to you. I could have had you aborted the moment I learned of your existence. I never wanted a child, but your father said you would gain us the Hiwatari estate. You have not gained us a dime."

"Sorry I couldn't be your lap dog," Kai muttered, as she slapped his across the face. "I'm sorry that I grew a brain of my own, mother."

"I don't know why we bothered to keep you! You are worthless! It's your fault that I couldn't have another child that would be more respectful."

"Me? We're always blamed for the impossible," Kai sighed. "I don't know how I am to blame for your miscarriages. Shouldn't you blame the husband who hit you, or shoved you in anger because he didn't want another one turning out like me?" The remark received him another slap from the woman.

"You ungrateful demon! I wish I could forget that you came from me! Your father and I were happy before you came along and ruined everything! We should have never allowed you to interact with that filth. You would have eventually realized your purpose in life. It was that boy's fault. You changed after meeting him. He deserves to die for what he had put this family through."

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Kai snapped. His eyes darkened with anger as he forcibly pushed himself up to face the woman. "I don't care how much you talk shit about me. But don't ever spew crap about him. Do you really believe that I would have tagged along in your little plan willingly? Even without meeting Tala, it would have eventually happened. He's been the only person in my entire life that's gave a damn about me. We might have disagreed a time or two, but has never betrayed me like you have."

"How dare you—" the woman started.

"You've never loved me once in your life. I was an ornament, not a son to you," Kai replied, his voice thick with tears he refused to shed. "I might as well have been discarded the moment of my birth for the loneliness you put me through. I'm glad I got to know Tala's family, and I will stick by him to the very last breath in my body."

"You think you can stick by him? You can't even stand on your own two feet," she scoffed, turning on her heel scornfully. Swinging the door open, she slammed it shut behind her, engaging the lock in place. When she was gone, the strength Kai found to stand up for his friend fade, leaving him to sag back onto the bed in a heap. Squeezing his eyes shut, he forced the burning to go away, numbing all emotions to be accepted by that woman and her husband. It wasn't going to happen in that lifetime

"Tala, please be okay…please be safe," Kai whispered to the ceiling, turning his eyes to stare at the tattered curtains, a scenery of neglected shrubbery and vines obscuring the view of the estate. Just how long would their grandfather keep them like this until they were free of their sins? Maybe weeks, or months, or even years. However long it took the old man to die off and relinquish their sentence. He just hoped they could survive long enough for that day to arrive.

The red head in question found himself awakening to darkness, not as profound as the night before, but dark enough that he had no idea if it was still night. Curling his body from the ball he settled into the night before, falling into restless slumber, he winced at the knots bunching his muscles. Massaging out the knots slowly from his sore limbs, he tried to ignore another creature scrambling up the wall. He would make not to push the bed away from the wall sometime during his waking hours. Once his limbs didn't threaten to lock up, he lying back on the bed, the stillness of the room coupled with the darkness isolated him from everywhere else. Shifting onto his back, he tried to make out the ceiling to pass time until something let up.

"Kai…where are you now?" Tala asked the darkness, his only answer was a squeak from the corner. Was his friend in an obscure room as well, wishing for some light to break through the solitude? "Kai…be all right." They could make it through this, just as long as they were both fine.

_**--oooooo--**_

Rim: All right, I'm not getting anymore good transition from this chapter without filling it with crap or cutting it back to Tala, Kenny, Kai, and Tyson…however that would be awkward seeing how I haven't gotten to the really good stuff coming up next chapter. I'll see what I can do about updating by Wednesday, just hang in there everyone. The good stuff is coming.


	26. Chapter 26

Rim: The week is finally over and even though I wasn't able to get the chapter out by Wednesday, we're going to get some work done now. There's much that I have to cover in this chapter, though I worry exactly how it will transpire as I begin writing. Well, we can only figure it out by working, so enough with my thoughts, onwards to the next part.

_**--oooooo--**_

Time seemed to have stopped completely. The darkness had a way of creating the illusion that existence was broke apart from the rest of the world, that if this desolate continuation were ever to cave in and fade away, the rest of the world would not be affected by it. For all the young man sitting within that obscurity knew, his life coexisted solely in that darkness. Somehow he had been pushed into an alternate reality where his remaining days consisted of his wandering aimlessly from one corner of the immense shadows to another for some hope of light. His eyes had only adjusted to one degree of the pitch blackness he shuffled around in, listening to the scurries and scuttles that occupied the space with him.

For the moment, the young man sat on the musty bed, his back was no longer cold; the metal pressing against his bare, bandaged skin was now his body temperature. His knees were drawn up to his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs. There was nothing he could really do but sit there, waiting for something to happen. How many hours he had been there in that darkness was indistinguishable. No light came in, the darkness never changed. For all he knew, only minutes could have passed without his knowing it.

Perhaps this was to be his coffin; he wouldn't put it past his grandfather if the old man locked him away in this perpetual darkness to rot away forgotten. Had Kai also been shoved into a room like this, wondering if he would ever see the light of day again, if he could hear some other sound besides his own breathing, or the scurry of unmentionable creatures going across the floor or up the walls? Was his cousin also wondering if Tala was in the same predicament as he?

No. Tala shook his head, a twinge of envy rising before he silenced it into the deepest part of his mind where it would die unmentioned. No, Kai would not be treated in the same manner as he was. Kai, though burden with this situation as much as Tala was, would not be treated like this. Their grandfather would try to reform Kai from siding with Tala in order for the dual haired young man to become his rightful heir. They both knew this, and had accepted there would be a time where one would suffer while the other was treated as if he were a prince. They did not disillusion each other knowing that it would be Kai would receive the better treatment. Tala was the family outcast; the one they would rather forget existed.

A pang twitched the back of Tala's legs, the red head stretching out his legs to get the circulation to move within them. Exactly how long had he been in that position? Letting his arms rest at his sides, he stared forward into the darkness, a sigh escaping his lips. His stomach rumbled again, this time more fiercely than what occurred a short period of time before. He was also getting the urge to use the bathroom. He feared that if this truly was his prison and coffin, he would have to designate one corner of the room to release his bowels in. The very thought of urinating and defecating in the same area that he would sleep in turned his stomach. His grandfather couldn't possibly treat him no better than that…could he?

Tala sighed once more, caught in between concern and dread for his very short future. His dilemma transfixed his thoughts enough that he was more than just a little startled when he heard the moan of the rusted door open, light flooding into the room blinding him. Anything that was scampering around the room with him, hurried off to their hiding holes in the walls or ceilings and out of the light. Tala winced painfully, his eyes trying to adjust to the change. Heavy footsteps briskly strolled over to the area where he sat, a hand abruptly yanked Tala up by his hair, pulling him off the bed roughly. Yelping in pain, he struggled momentarily, before receiving a slap across the face as a silent warning to not cause any trouble. Piping down, he allowed himself to be dragged out the room by his hair, whilst refocusing his eyes in the light.

By the time his eyes were refocused, he was thrown into another room. Hitting the cold stone floor, a door was shut and locked behind him. Sitting up, Tala blinked, looking around the new area to discover he was in a bathroom, light streamed through a small window situated high above his reach. Standing up from where he was thrown, Tala decided not to question that act of kindness provided by his grandfather, instead using it without complaint.

The first order of business was relieving himself of his bladder. Once that task was completed, Tala turned his attention to the large claw-footed bathtub that rested in the center of the bathroom. A thin gray towel and wash clothe were folded by the tub. A thick sickly green bar of soap rested on top of the two items, Tala recognizing it as the usual lye soap Kai always sponge bathed him with.

"Doesn't look like I'm going to ever get a decent shampooing while I'm here," Tala murmured to himself. Had Kai been with him, his smart ass cousin would have tried to make a joke about the comment, promising to smuggle some shampoo in so while he was alone in his dark prison, he could impress the rats or whatever it was running around that god forsaken room by how fresh his hair smelled. Tala's eyes dimmed at the thought of not hearing jokes like that again from his cousin. Was this really how things were going to be from now on?

Turning on the taps, water filled the bathtub. Placing the rubber stopper in the drain, Tala let the tub fill with water, disappointed when the water only came out lukewarm no matter how high he turned the hot water tap. Removing his bandages, Tala stripped out of the pants and underwear he wore, pondering if he would have to re-wear the items once he was finished with his bath. Pushing the thoughts from his mind for the moment, Tala set to work getting into the tub. Somehow, things would work themselves out…at least he was hoping they would.

_**--oooo--**_

Kai turned his still sore eyes from the window hearing the door to the room open. A tall man who seemed more robotic than human stiffly wheeled in a metal cart. Leaving it by the bed, he paid no attention to Kai as he swiftly turned, leaving the room as fast as he made an appearance. Kai looked at the silver tray resting on the metal cart. Shifting from his position on the bed, Kai inched over to the tray, lifting a batter arm to uncover the lid discovering a bowl with a side of freshly sliced bread, and a cup of what appeared to be tea.

"Zulynez gribnoy po-Odessky," Kai murmured more to the air around him, than to his self.

It was like a swift kick to the ass with steel lined boots. The sheer nostalgia the dish brought from his childhood was about as cruel as remembering it was his Aunt who would always make him the dish whenever she came to Russia to make sure he was fine. His own mother had refused plenty of times to make him the dish, hating more when Tala's mother would smile and say she loved making the dish. Covering the tray back up, tears welled up, streaking down his face at the thought of mockery his parents and grandfather were doing by giving him the dish. It was humiliating to his Aunt's memory to even bother with the dish. Pushing the tray away, he curled up on his side, refusing to give them the satisfaction by eating despite the hunger his stomach emphasized.

Hearing the door to the room reopen, he didn't bother to turn over to find out who it was, until he heard the sound of the cane against the floor. Lifting his head, Kai stared out the corner of his eyes to find his grandfather and parents standing in the doorway. Dread filled the pit of his stomach, moving to face them. It was dangerous for his back to be to them, he had no idea what they might do. The first of the three individuals to enter the room was his father; the man towered over his son, glaring down at him with such an obnoxious look Kai couldn't help but break the stare.

"Planning to waste all the hard work we placed in having this meal prepared?" Kai's father asked him, lifting the lid to find the food untouched.

"I told you he was such an ungrateful child," Kai's mother scoffed. "I don't know why we bothered having him. You thought having children would—"

"Shut your mouth woman, I wasn't speaking to you," Kai's father snapped, turning his dark eyes on her.

Kai's mother immediately fell silent, turning her eyes angrily on Kai as if he were the one who just told her to be silent instead of her husband. As far as things lay within his mother's mind, he had somehow managed to coerce his father into it. Later she would take out her frustration with the man she married on the son which meant nothing to her other than first selection as head of the family when Kai's grandfather was gone.

"Do you plan to waste this food boy?" Kai's father questioned once again, shifting his vision back to Kai.

"I'm not hungry," Kai muttered. "I'm sorry…"

"Not hungry?" Kai's father snorted, yanking his son's head up by his hair. Kai flinched slightly, remaining silent however. "I believe you're lying boy."

"I'm not hungry," Kai whispered. "I swear to you I'm not."

"Maybe you're not hungry because Alexial didn't make it for you?" Kai's father retorted. "You always loved it when she made it for you? But now you're not going to eat it because she's not here to make it for you."

"I'm not hungry," Kai said again, his throat closing up slowly, making the words come out strained.

"You were always found of Alexial, weren't you Kai?" Kai's father smirked. "Everyone in the family loved her. She was the pearl of the family. I remember how your eyes would light up seeing her. I remember how she asked me to adopt you since you were miserable with us. I should have let you leave with her and that damn man, I wouldn't have had to deal with seeing your face had you been killed in that plane crash also."

"Aunt Alexial…and Uncle Mikhail…they were the only ones who decided to treat me as if I was worth more than the family fortune," Kai voiced. "She was your older sister, how can you turn your nose up on the choice she made to marry for love instead of money? How can you hate people who cared so much about each other and others? How can you make a mockery of her kindness in this way?"

"Mockery? You consider making you one of her favorite dishes is a mockery to her name?"

"You know it's a mockery because of this situation!" Kai shouted.

"Make the boy eat," Voltaire ordered, shuffling into the room. "I'm not allowing him to waste food. He had no choice in the matter about what we do and what he believes it to mean. If you prefer, we can stop feeding you all together and you can starve to death like a dog. Perhaps we should treat you no better than the trash we swept out of sight."

"Tala…" Kai said. "What have you done to Tala?"

"That's none of your business boy," Voltaire replied, turning his eyes on his youngest son. "Make the boy eat, so we can get started with what I have set aside for today."

"I refuse to eat it," Kai voiced, shaking his head despite the firm hold his father had on his head. "It's a mockery to Aunt Alexial! How can you be so cruel grandfather?"

"Susume, make the boy eat," Voltaire ordered.

"I won't!" Kai turned his head away, clamping his mouth shut. The man towering over him wrapped a hand around his throat, shoving him down on the bed. Kai's mother by then had the spoon in her hand, standing by awaiting instruction. Kai shook his head back and forth, even while his father's hand tightened around his neck. Kai's hands reached up to pry the fingers from around his neck, only to receive a fist in his stomach. Biting back a cry, he refused to be forced fed.

"Open your mouth boy," Kai's father demanded, striking his son once more in the stomach. Tears dribbled down Kai's face as he shook his head silently. "I don't care how long you think you can hold out, you're going to eat this food whether you want to or not." Kai continued to refuse, however when his eyes swam with the need for air, he had no choice but to gasp for air, giving his mother opportunity to shovel food into his mouth.

Nearly choking, he went to spit the food out when more was shoveled in. Above him, he heard the order to chew and swallow, even as more food was being forced into his mouth. Receiving yet another fist, this time in the chest, Kai sobbed around the food that he ate. Losing the battle, Kai found himself force fed the entire bowl of food, before he was all but drowned by the tea his mother forced down this throat. When they were finished, his parents moved away from him, Kai turning onto his side, refusing to let them see his tears.

"Get up boy," Voltaire ordered.

"I just want to be left alone," Kai choked, feeling like he was three again. No matter how far he thought he always got from them, the abuse and belittle always came back full circle. No matter how many families he came and left in within the family, he always knew eventually he would have to face them again to weather a storm there was no end to.

"Stop your sniveling and get up now," Voltaire ordered.

"Why?" Kai whimpered, only to receive his grandfather's cane across the back as his response. A high pitch squeak escaped from Kai's lips, the young man curling up into a ball to protect his already damaged body from the assault.

"Get up now," Voltaire repeated. "Or perhaps I should start on that worthless boy that Alexial spawned. You've taken all of his beatings thus far. I do believe we can just add your defiance to what he is to suffer already."

"Leave him alone," Kai said.

"Then are you going to obey me boy?" Voltaire stated, his cold eyes flitting with smug triumphant when Kai slowly pushed off the bed, staggering to his feet, doing his best to ignore the sharp and dull aches piercing his body with needles. "There's hope for you yet. Now follow me."

"First promise me that you won't hurt Tala because of me," Kai replied. To the comment, Voltaire snorted, motioning to his youngest son to drag the boy along as he shuffled towards the door. "Grandfather, promise me!"

"You are in no position to request demands out of me boy," Voltaire scoffed, leaving the room as Kai's father gripped his arm, yanking him along behind the old man. Knowing that struggling would get him nowhere other than more bruising, Kai silently followed down the long corridor of hallways and stairways which led to his grandfather's personal study. "I will warn you now boy that there will be consequences for disobeying me. You shall speak when spoken to and you shall remain silent otherwise. Do I make myself clear? I'm certain that you don't want to make the punishment worst."

"Yes, grandfather," Kai murmured. "I understand."

"Good, you're not as worthless as I thought you were," Voltaire said, sliding the door to the spacious study open.

_**--oooo--**_

Tala looked at the door, finding the monstrously tall butler standing in the doorway holding folded material. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he took a hesitant step back. Fear curled upwards from the bottom of his stomach, pressing upwards into his chest. The butler paid no attention to the boy's apprehension, dropping the items on the floor.

"Get dressed, Master Voltaire is awaiting," the butler said, his monotonous voice void of all emotion. The butler made no move to leave once dumping the clothes on the floor. In fact he stood there like a statue, awaiting for Tala to come over and pick up the clothes. Realizing that the man wasn't going anywhere, Tala shuffled over, a tight grip on the towel around his waist. Leaning down to pick up the clothing that felt coarse, he moved away from the butler. Using the bathtub as a barrier, Tala pulled on the prickly material that felt like a burlap, the fabric scratching against his skin. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Tala inquired. The butler gave Tala a look, saying nothing as he stared at Tala. "All right, I guess this means I'll find out when I get there." Knowing that he had no choice about this, he resigned to follow the giant who led him down a series of corridors and stairways, leading to a single solitary room down a long hallway. Opening the sliding door, he pushed Tala inside the room.

"Very good William," Voltaire said from where he sat, with Kai stiffly standing by the chair. Only minutes ago, Voltaire had excused Kai's parents from the room.

"Kai!" Tala said, relief filling him to see his cousin.

"Silence unless spoken to," the butler remarked, slapping Tala in the mouth. "Master Voltaire has not given you permission to speak."

"Don't worry William," Voltaire smirked, clasping his hands together, leaning back in the oversized plush leather chair. He tilted his head to the side, studying the rigid posture of his grandson. He was going to break the loyalty between them no matter what. The defiance so obviously there would not last, and when the moment comes that it breaks, Voltaire would have no reason to go through this hassle. "Kai would never speak to such filthy. He knows better, isn't that right, Kai?"

The dual haired young man averted his eyes from his grandfather and Tala. He wanted to say something however fear that his grandfather would worsen things for Tala plagued his mind. He promised himself that he would do whatever he could to protect the one person who gave a damn about him in that family. The one person who had stuck by him no matter what happened. He was going to save Tala from any remaining pain God was going to dish out to him.

"Kai…" Tala said quietly. What had their grandfather said or done to Kai to silence his friend? Or was Kai truly saving his own ass by becoming an obedient puppet? No…that couldn't be the case. Kai's will to remain an independent entity was too strong.

"He won't answer you boy, he's taking his rightful place in this family," Voltaire said.

"It's not true! Kai would never!" Tala shook his head, receiving another slap from the butler.

"Silence boy unless you're spoken to," the butler thundered. Tala turned his eyes on Kai, finding his cousin's fists were clenched at his side; Kai's eyes were downcast on the carpet.

'_You were threatened, weren't you Kai? That's why you are going along with this. What did that old man say to you? Did __he use me as bait? Whatever he said, I'm not going to be a burden for you. I'm going to survive somehow, so just do what you can to survive.' _Tala was going to survive not just for Kenny, but his cousin also. Since they arrived in Russia, Kai had been looking out for him. It was his time to return the favor.

Voltaire stared at the red head, seeing defiance in his eyes towards his position within that house. That look reminded the man of the boy's bastard father. That exact same look applied when Mikhail Ivanov came to Russia in order to ask for Alexial's hand in marriage. No matter how many times Voltaire turned him away, the insignificant insect continued to crawl back, refusing to admit defeat until he talked Alexial into marriage without her father's consent. For that, Voltaire was going to make the boy pay for his father's mistake.

Getting up from the chair he sat within, Voltaire ambled over to the desk in the far corner, reaching into the bottom drawer to pull out the bristly braided whip. Moving over to Tala, Voltaire dropped the whip down in front of the boy, who stared at it dumbly. Voltaire said nothing, turning his attention to Kai. Their bond was strong, but it was not unbreakable.

"Kai, strip off your shirt and stand against the wall," Voltaire ordered.

"Huh?" Kai's head jerked up, blinking in confusion at the command.

"You heard me boy, strip out of your shirt and stand against the wall," Voltaire repeated. "Hurry up, my patience is thin."

Kai looked confused, his eyes flitting from his grandfather to his cousin who was equally as bemused as the other. Hesitantly, Kai began lifting his shirt over his head with some difficulty due to his bruises. Managing to get the item over his head, the dual haired bluenette held onto his shirt with questioning eyes whilst moving to stand against the wall.

"Drop the shirt, Kai," Voltaire ordered.

"I—" Kai opened his mouth to speak then thought against it. His grandfather might take his disobedience as a sign of resistance before taking it out on his cousin. Closing his mouth, Kai obeyed his grandfather's orders, allowing the object he clenched to crumple into a pile beside him.

"Turn facing the wall with your arms braced on the wall," Voltaire demanded. "Now boy, pick up the whip from the floor."

"What?" Tala blinked.

"You heard me, boy. Pick up the whip now." Voltaire went and sat back down in his chair, leaning back comfortably. "I'm making it your job from now on to punish Kai for his sins. I think his punishment is much more fitting if it is given by the person who he sinned for, don't you agree boy?"

"There's no way I'm going to—" Tala started heatedly.

"Then you must not care about the consequences for not carrying out this simple task?" Voltaire interrupted. "Worst punishments await you both if you refuse to carry your responsibility out. Now pick up the whip and get started. I have all the time in the world to wait for your decision on this matter. Remember however, punishment will be dealt out no matter what."

"Tala…" Kai said.

"Who said you could speak Kai?" Voltaire quirked a brow at his grandson who was looking over his shoulder at Tala. "Eyes facing the wall, unless you want to add upon your punishment. Now go over there and give him twenty lashings, boy."

"Kai…" Knowing what his cousin was going to say, Tala squeezed his eyes shut momentarily, a surge of anger and hatred flooding into him for their grandfather. How he wished he could turn that whip on the man and show him that this was not amusement. Nevertheless, he would be stopped by the monster butler intently watching him for any sign of hostility. Even if he coerced Kai into joining him in a blitz attack, they wouldn't get far in the house. More than likely they would never make it off the premises in their conditions. With no money, no passports, no plan, death was the only thing which awaited them outside that estate. Resigning his emotions, Tala leaned down, picking up the whip and toddled over to Kai.

"Don't think you're going to get away with gentle taps with that whip either," Voltaire spoke up as Tala half heartedly lifted his arm, drawing the whip back. "I want to hear it snap against his skin so he knows that he will pay for every last one of his sins. For each one I don't hear, that's an added two towards his punishment. The same shall apply Kai, when you give the boy his lashings."

Kai braced himself against the wall, hearing the wind whistle as a sharp pain laced across his right shoulder, down his back, and into his legs. Gasping in pain, he clenched his fists against the wall to steady his position, as the air whistled again, another acute stinging raging down his back, this time on his left side. No matter what their grandfather did, they were going to somehow make it out of this hell in one piece.

Somehow…

_**--oooo--**_

The red head staggered into the dark room, falling to the floor as a tray was pushed in beside him. Falling onto his stomach, Tala just wanted to curl up on the floor until the fire on his back settled from the twenty lashes he just recently received. Moving his hand out to touch the bowl of food, something furry scampered across his hand, clicking the bowl with small, sharp claws while the animal tried to scale the side of the bowl or knock it over to get the food instead. Another furry creature scrambled over the boy's head to get to the food. More would come once they smelled the food.

His body protested as he sat up, pushing the furry animals away from the bowl, picking it up bowl. The two persistent beasts made an aggravated noise at him at being intercepted on the meal. One of the creatures raced at him, sinking tiny claws into his leg to scale him in order to get to where the food was. Tala shook his leg clear, scooting away from the animals as they tried once again. From behind, a third animal tried scaling his back for the food. Hissing in pain, Tala shook the animal off, scooting back until he made it to the bed.

Fighting the animals off while putting the bowl on the bed, Tala gradually lifted his body onto the bed, away from the animals squeaking their protest at him. Drawing his legs up on the bed, he was thankful this time for the brass frame the musty bed was situated on. Though there was a chance they could climb their way up on the bed, it would take them some time. Giving Tala more than enough time to choke down what appeared to be dehydrated fruit that must be weeks old, more stale bread, likely moldy cheese, and something dry and rough: likely days' old meat.

"Here, you can have this," Tala called into the dark, flinging the old meat somewhere into the room. The rapid scurry of tiny clawed feet dashed off in the direct of the food, squeaks of fighting heard from the animals.

Staring into the darkness, Tala wondered how his cousin was doing. He had to be just as sore as Tala was. Sighing, Tala sank into his thoughts, eating the scrapes to cure the hunger gnawing at him despite the pain he was in. If he planned to survive, he was going to need every scrape of food they gave him. He could push his pride aside for the moment at being treated like a dog. The main priority was to keep up his health and strength. Eventually there would come a time where escape was possible for him and Kai. For that time, he would do what was necessary.

"But…" Tala whispered into the darkness, sinking his teeth into the desiccated skin of the unknown fruit.

Just how long was it going to take before that opportunity laid open for him and Kai? How many weeks were they going to have to watch each other wince in pain, knowing there was nothing they could do to lessen it? How many months would go by before they didn't have to inflict pain on each other for the satisfaction of a deprived old man? Just how many years could they hang on to their sanity if this continued?

"God…how long do you intend to forsake us?" Tala questioned the darkness.

_**--oooooo--**_

Rim: Another chapter out the way and the angst continues. I never expected these chapters could possibly be stand alone in a way, but here we go. Well, I'm too tired to make a coherent thought of any kind, so I shall stop here. With nothing more to say, I shall see everyone next chapter. Ah yes, for anyone who wants to know, the dish Kai was forced fed, it's in fact a vegetable dish consisting of mushrooms, grated cheese, and sour cream. It's on a list of things I wouldn't mind trying...yes, now with that said, I shall leave.


	27. Chapter 27

Rim: I've been thinking long and hard about how this chapter was going to progress, and this is what I've finally come up with. I think it's better than the alternative opening that just wasn't hitting on anything. Chao, B., thanks for all the support that you two have given me in writing this chapter and I've stopped going crazy and let what comes natural go and work its magic. All right here we go.

_**---oooooo---**_

The door slammed behind him, the young man staggering to keep his balance whilst the echo of the door resonated around him. It was a deep penetrating sound, so oppressive that it seemed to steal what little life still crept into his body. Alone once more, he fought to keep his balance, his legs weary and burning from the whelps lining his skin from head to foot. Lifting his leaden head, his listless eyes focused on the shower only a few feet away.

Doing his best to ignore the searing pain that ran rampant up and down his body, the young dual haired man shuffled his way towards the shower. The feel of cold wetness rolling down his back slowly almost made him cringe as he fumbled with loosening the coarse pants irritating his wounds. After several attempts to loosen the cumbersome material, Kai managed to free himself of the fabric, his steps erratic, stumbling a few times as he kicked off the material. Droplets of blood crawled down his heels, under his feet leaving smug footprints as he worked off the shirt. The pain stabbed every known part of him mercilessly, the pit of Kai's stomach threatening to heave from nausea. Succeeding to tear off the shirt by the time he reached the shower, Kai braced a hand against the wall to stop from going head first into the porcelain shower.

With a shaking hand, Kai turned on the tap for water, his body quivering from cold and tenderness of his battered flesh. Resting his head against the wall, all thoughts rushed out of his head as a ragged sob tore through him. Doing his best to try and calm it, else he receives another punishment from his parents for the show of emotions if they were to come in and check on him, the dual haired young man lost the battle. The past three years had finally come crashing down around him, cracking open the flood gate he had barely been able to keep from leaking.

Clambering into the shower for some sort of reprieve-any kind at this point would do to cleanse his soul-the lukewarm water hammered down on the wounds, washing away the clumps of blood which formed to stop the bleeding on day old wounds, and the fresh blood courtesy of his parents. In the last few weeks since his grandfather's health had worsened after a sudden stroke, their wrath became insatiable; their fury was bottomless. Their words even sharper than the dull aches resting within his mind already, tearing apart any security which had tried to reassure him getting through this was possible.

Slipping to the floor in a heap, Kai curled into a ball, the sobs racking his battered form as darkness swept over his mind, closing him into a paranoid bubble within his own mind. He could hear the shadows clasping his soul laughing in their heinous, raspy voices. Mocking and tormenting his inability to keep fighting for himself and a cousin he no longer had any idea whether or not he was alive. He didn't want to believe his parents' snarky remarks when it came to Tala's existence. However with the amount of time passing since lasting seeing his cousin, Kai was beginning to wonder if it was true. If it was…what was the point in going on, what was the point in going on? What was the point of even living if they could not make their dreams come true together? By this time everyone must think they're dead. Would it even matter if he…

_**--oooo--**_

The darkness was his home, he couldn't remember the last time seeing anything else besides the shadows which surrounded him. The scrambling and scuffles around him were all that registered with his brain. Those sounds assured him that he was still alive, that even if it was some sort of dream, he was there, he existed in some space of the world, or alternate world, or dimension, or whatever the hell he now lived in. He vaguely remembered a time when he saw lights, when the feel of water was against his skin. A time when he would fight with the creatures for the bits of scrapes which were thrown at him.

Sometimes, long ago he would scream out in pain at the knife like wounds which seared across his bare back, the eyes of someone watching apathetically. The person whipping him, holding back every now and then only to be punished for it, murmuring softly forgiveness for what he was doing. He wondered…what happened to that person. Why wasn't he allowed to see that person anymore? Was that person dead?

Tilting his head to the side, he frowned ever so slightly at the thing that was crawling on his head, whilst he lay on the floor. Lifting a hand, he pulled the creature which tried clinging to his dirty matted hair away, stroking it with his thumb. The animal squeaked, as the red head continued to stroke the creature which squirmed in his hand. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the warm, wriggling ball of fur in his hand. Somewhere else in the room, there were more squeaks and squeals, something racing up the wall into a hole.

Licking his lips, Tala opened his eyes bringing his hand down until he could press his lips against the fur of the animal. Blowing gently, he allowed his thumb to continue to stroke his captive as he raised his other hand to pet the animal's head. Smiling gently, almost in a loving manner, Tala lifted his head, opening his mouth to bite against the fur. The animal in his hand squeaked, squirming more as he applied more pressure. Blood filled his mouth as he bit harder, sucking the warm liquid from creature.

When he had first began this months ago, the very thought disgusted him to no ends. Every single time he would vomit up the remains of the animal no sooner had he ingested it. Over time the act of surviving won out over the unconventional method by which he continued to exist. He had no choice when the scraps he had survived on began becoming less by the weeks. This room was the only thing he ever saw. Some time ago they gave him a pail so the need for taking him out to go to the bathroom was not an issue. Whenever he dozed off into his own little world, he suspected someone came and got rid of the urine. It only seemed within the room for a few hours at a time, never more. They were preparing his death, he knew that, and in his mind somewhere he was not going to allow them to get rid of him by these methods.

There was a reason he had to survive, a reason he dreamed about each night, but could never remember when he woke up. A reason he at times found himself reaching out in the dark for something or someone, feeling a cold chill press against his heart as frustration grew at those times. He wanted to remember whatever it was that kept him alive, that kept him going on subconsciously. He doubted it was the boy with dull red eyes he used to see. When he thought about that boy, he only felt a faint desire to compensate him.

No. The thing in his dreams, the one he reached out for, the feeling Tala had for it was more than compensation. It was a desire so strong to wrap his arms around it and never let go that he swore he could at times feel himself clinging to something for the longest amount of time. He could find a sense of peace in knowing that it was there and would never leave him. The sort of desire that made him willing and able to do what he was doing.

Sucking harder on the now barely wriggling body, he squeezed the creature a little to produce more of the warm liquid quenching a thirst that ached in his throat. He wasn't hungry enough at the moment to eat the creature, as much of a waste as it was, he would live the carcass for the scavengers which occupied the room. The better they ate, the better he would eat when he was hungry enough. For now, the blood sustained him so he could dream. He liked the thing waiting for him when he closed his eyes and sunk into unconsciousness. It was the only true proof that the life in his body held some sort of meaning, existing for the time when he might be able to remember that dream.

_**--oooo--**_

The banging of the bathroom door opening startled the distraught young man curled up in the fetal position in the shower as the water rained down on him. Pulling himself up quickly from said position, he eyed his father lurking in the doorway. Paling at the sight of the man, Kai tried slipping out the shower to face the enraged man.

"Father," Kai began, doing his best to quell the sobs wrenching the back of his throat and chest. The man said nothing, storming into the bathroom to yank Kai up by his wet hair. Kai did his best repress the whimper in his throat, squeezing his eyes shut finding his father drawing his fist back. Clenching his hands at his sides, he awaited the blow. A secondary, heavier pair of footsteps entered the room, stopping a few steps away from where Kai's father stood.

"You are to respect Lord Voltaire's orders." The voice of the butler sounded in the room, Kai hearing his father growl before flinging him to the ground. Kai's eyes snapped open at the pain that splintered through his body. Gasping, he clenched at the floor until a wave of nausea settled. His wounds wept, blood mingling with droplets of water. Lifting his eyes, Kai could see more hatred in his father's eyes, than he ever saw from another human being in his life. The eyes of a man who wanted nothing more than to end his life right there. However, somehow, the butler's presence denied it, causing Kai's father to turn away from him, storming out the bathroom.

The butler turned his eyes down towards Kai. "You only have a week, gather yourself and then prepare to leave."

"What do you mean? Where am I going?" Kai inquired, halfway wondering if the man was going to answer his question, or turn and leave.

"On order of Lord Voltaire, you are leaving Russia. You have not submitted to your role as heir of this family, so you are to be disowned. A secondary candidate for position as heir to the Hiwatari estate has already been named. You lose all your inheritance, and right to be part of this family. Those were the conditions he set in the last few months," the butler replied.

"I don't understand…why now?" Kai whispered, his head spinning at the thought he was finally free from this hellhole, but at what cost? At what cost had it all been to finally be free? Moving on without Tala…it was unfair to consider that much. Unfair he could not share this.

"Lord Voltaire passed away moments ago. He left instructions for you to leave this family that I intend to carry out. You have only a week before you will go," the butler said.

"Passed…away…" Kai blinked, the tears slipping down his face. Not for the man who had treated him like crap. No, these tears were for the doors reopening to free his tormented, battered soul. He had made it through. Again though, at what cost? Was it too much to ask if by chance he was not walking away alone, had his parents indeed lied to him about his cousin. "Am I leaving alone? Please…tell me…"

"First, you will bathe, then you will be taken to the boy," the man said, turning on his heel, leaving the bathroom after shutting the door. Kai could only sit in joy as the tears continued to fall. Raising his eyes to the ceiling, he released the pent up emotions that seeped from the depths of a mangled spirit.

_'God…please don't let this be a dream.'_

Once the tears settled, Kai lifted himself up on boneless, shaking legs, heading back to the shower to rinse off the sins which really had piled up on him from the people who carelessly decided that he was going to pay for destiny. By the time he was through, the butler brought back a new set of clothes, these weren't much better than the other coarse material he had been made to wear over the past three years, however they didn't scratch him so much having his wounds bandaged. The butler treated him no differently than before, being dispassionate towards the young man, however he made good on his word, leading Kai upstairs towards the small attic room which had been boarded up and condemned to give in years.

"Is he really in there?" Kai questioned, as the butler pulled out a thick brass key, placing it in the keyhole, disengaging the lock.

"Would I otherwise bring you up here if he were not still alive?" the butler inquired, pulling open the door to the room. Light flooded in, illuminating a figure that was lying on the ground dangling a dead piece of fur in front of him by a thin black tail. Around him, was a gaggle of small furry creatures, squeaking and crawling over each other to get at the corpse the red head had.

"Hmm…you guys really are hungry…aren't you?" Tala inquired, swinging the furry body back and forth. "Whoever gets this knows that you're my next meal, right?"

The balls of fur squeaked, clamoring over each other. One of the creatures managed to crawl over the other ones and up Tala's chest. Standing up on its hind legs, it scratched at the head of the dead animal in Tala's hand. A short-very disturbing if ever one was seen-smile crossed the red head's lips as he swung the little body more, the animal on his chest following movement.

"You're persistent," Tala commented. "All right everyone let's see who is going to be next in line." Flinging the body to the other side of the room, he turned his head to watch the furry creatures race after the body.

"Oh god…Tala," Kai whispered, taking a step into the room. Hearing a sound, Tala turned his head towards the sound, his pupils shrinking at the light. Closing his eyes, he made a noise of protest at the sudden light he had been weeks without. "What has happened to you in all this time that…" Making his way towards Tala, Kai slipped to his knees, wrapping his arms around the red head that made a whimper of protest.

"As I have shown the boy is alive," the butler remarked. "Now bring him along or leave him. I do not have all day for you to decide what you want to do with him."

"What I want to do with him," Kai chuckled bitterly, turning his eyes to the man standing in the doorway. "How can you see another human being in this state and not even blink? You've all drove him to this madness and then—"

"I do what I am told regardless of the outcome," the butler interrupted. "Gather the boy up if you are taking him with you, or leave him to die of his insanity."

Clenching his fists, Kai leaned his head down, pressing his lips to his cousin's forehead in reassurance. "Don't worry, Tala, everything is going to be okay somehow. We will be able to leave soon…this place will only be a dream, I promise." Lifting the red head up into his arms, he was alarmed at just how much weight his cousin must have lost in all this time. Guilt rammed at his heart, thinking of what his cousin must have done to survive for so long under these apathetic conditions.

"No…" Tala whimpered, trembling in Kai's arms. "I can't leave. I can't leave here. I don't want to leave."

"Don't worry, trust me Tala…it's better out there," Kai assured soothingly as the red head settled into his arms. "Once we get you bathe and fed, you'll feel better." Standing up from where he was, he stared at the corner of the room where the furry creatures were cannibalizing the dead corpse of their brethren.

"But I have to find out who is going to be eaten next…we have a contest. Once one gets fat enough, I have to eat him," Tala said to Kai, burrowing his face into the other's shirt to get away from the light.

"I'll tell you who won later, okay?" Kai said, his throat closing up in grief.

"Promise?" Tala questioned, his voice muffled in the material of the shirt.

"I promise…" Kai whispered, exiting the room. "It will all be a dream we will both wake up from soon. We've made it out, so you don't have to worry about it any more. We will laugh about it one day, this silly little dream we didn't wake up from for a long, long while…"

**-ooo-**

Tala opened his eyes, remembering hearing those words in his state of involuntary dementia and lapse of sanity. In those days following being led out of the darkness, he remembered little, except those words which were whispered to him every day up until he finally came around some weeks later. By then, Kai was again taking care of both of them full time. In the weeks leading up to coming back to his senses he had caused his cousin to worry and stress repeated. After he finally back around, Kai seemed to be okay, but Tala knew better. He didn't question his cousin, knowing that if Kai needed him, Kai would confine in him. That's how they always managed to survive.

But now…

"I don't remember much after leaving that hellhole," Tala continued, his voice just above a whisper in that still room. "My mind was lost from me for weeks. When I finally came back to my senses, we were already back in America. We were on our way to the safety deposit box my parents left for me. After that ordeal and we managed to get everything left to me, we made a plan slowly to find you and Tyson. We came here, found a cheap place. You know the rest after that."

The silence in the room was uncomfortable when Tala finished. Nothing stirred, not even the sound of their breathing seemed to be heard. It was almost enough to make Tala regress back into his darkness, if he didn't feel the arms around him. Looking down at the young man that was in his arms, he found wide, horrified eyes. Tears streamed down his face as he was unable to speak. Tala turned his eyes away from the brunette.

He shouldn't have told him everything. He wasn't able to take the kind of cruelty which truly lay within another human being, especially one like his grandfather. Tala should have withheld something. His angel had no reason to be tainted by such knowledge. Tala knew this sort of thing existed; he was use to that sort of realization. He had lived with it from the time of his parents' death, up until only a few months ago. Maybe he could lie and tell the brunette he made up most of that. Perhaps he could get his angel to agree to believe it to make them both come to agreement so they won't be so tainted.

"Kenny…" Tala began until the arms around him tightened. Turning his eyes back to the person he loved more than life itself that he had endured what God had threw at him in order to return to this person. Staring down into those painful eyes, he found rising hatred and anger, along with sorrow at what he was just told. "Kenny…we can pretend that—"

"How can you pretend it didn't happen to you? That it was just a dream! You can't pretend that it was just a passing moment, I won't allow it. I hate them for what they put you both through. There's no excuse for what they did! There's none!" Kenny shouted, leaning up to bury his face into Tala's neck and sob. "I can't pretend you didn't tell me that. I just can't Tala…"

Knowing that there wasn't much to say, Tala held on to his angel while he cried, purifying his soul, and giving him redemption he long after sought. Now that Kenny knew the truth…the real test was whether rested in the aftermath of this. Where would their paths lead them, if indeed they were meant to travel it together?

_**---oooooo---**_

Rim: My brain is freaking mush. That's it. All my flashbacks are completed, now I can move on with the rest of the action that I have planned. I'll work on next chapter next week and the chapter after that sometime later that week. We still have plans to finish this month, so be patient, unless I go insane and lock myself up with Tala to share rat/Gremlin/baby mutate beauty skin secrets…I swear only you get that joke B. I'm leaving now. Until next week my wonderful snowflakes.


	28. Chapter 28

Rim: Well, I guess I've finally figured out how to do this chapter. Let's see how much angst and whatnot I can get out of this. As always thanks to both B. and Chao for their help. We're coming down to the wire, let's see what comes out.

_**--oooooo--**_

Kai looked down at the bluenette in his lap that was clinging to him as the last possible line of life in the world. Kai reclined back just a little, Tyson sniffling involuntarily, his bout of tears finally stopped not too long ago. Kai stroked his head, combing strands from his face. No one spoke; both listening to the emptiness of the room their words for now would remain unspoken until Tyson broke it. Kai didn't want to be the first to speak. He wanted to know what Tyson thought before he said anything, before he was given a grain of hope.

For all Kai knew, the moment he opened his mouth, Tyson would shoot him down regardless of the fact that he knew the truth towards the fight. There was a chance even when Tyson calmed down, he would still deny Kai a chance for their relationship to go back to where it was three years ago. Kai could wait, but the longer the wait got, the longer he fell into darkness without his ray of light. He could only make it so far in life without Tyson who was his every reason to trudge through hell in order to return to him.

"Kai…" Tyson whispered, breaking the silence sooner than Kai had expected. Crimson eyes turned downwards, meeting the deep blue which first stole his battered heart, unbeknownst to their owner that a young boy's heart mended from years of being casted away. "Why didn't you come back immediately to me?"

"I…" Kai opened his mouth however he closed it again, averting his eyes. Tell Tyson the truth? And then wait for the one thing he looked forward to close him out? How could he even think about telling Tyson about those three years in which he lost his soul, where he lost all hope, where he nearly lost his mind for good? How could he tell Tyson about the mental and physical abuse, about how Tala was treated while his punishments were a mockery to what Tala received?

"Kai." Tyson reached up, touching Kai's left cheek gently. His eyes really were haunted, more so than he seemed to know. "Look at me, tell me why."

"I can't," Kai said, leaning down to wrap his arms around Tyson's head, hugging the bluenette to his chest. Resting his face gently into the mass of hair, Kai wanted nothing more than to forget it all and go about his life with Tyson.

Tyson pushed Kai back, sitting up from where he was in Kai's lap to give the older a pleading look Kai avoided. "Tell me, I want to be let in. I'm sure Tala has let in Kenny…why can't you let me support you too, and tell me what happened?"

"I want to protect you," Kai said, reaching out to cup Tyson's face in his hands. Meeting the other's deep blue eyes again, his heart wrenched in his chest, seeing the stubborn boy that he first fell in love with.

"I know that it was your grandfather who came for you and Tala. Doctor Tate told me and Kenny when we went back. We know that he hates you both…what did he do to you Kai?" Tyson pressed. "Can't you trust me with this burden? Do you think I won't be able to support you?"

"Yes," Kai admitted, dropping his hands to his lap. "I'm afraid you'll walk away once you learn the truth. I was a coward…I couldn't do anything to help him. I didn't even know…"

"Help him…? You mean Tala?" Tyson questioned.

"Yes," Kai nodded. "Had I arrived earlier…Tala might not have been shot by our uncle, we might have stopped this mess from happening."

"You had no way of knowing that things were going to end up like that! Stop beating yourself up about it! You're not God. You don't have psychic powers which allow you to see the future. You're only human, humans aren't perfect," Tyson argued.

"Can you say that much if I tell you that after we arrived in Russia, they treated him like a dog…no…worst than a dog? I was oblivious for so long as to what was happening to him, how he was locked away, slowly losing his mind. You have no idea what his mind was like when we left from there. I just kept wondering how I allowed—"

"It's okay Kai," Tyson assured, leaning in to wrap his arms around Kai who laid his head against Tyson's shoulder. The younger bluenette in turn stroked his head in comfort as the older had done not long before. "You had no choice, right? Tell me what happened, Kai."

"You aren't going to give up on finding out…are you?" Kai exhaled wearily, lifted his head a little to speak. He could feel Tyson shake his head in refusal, a small smile crossing Kai's lips. Maybe there was a chance that he could find his way into the light, that perhaps the guilt lining his soul and conscious could be removed. "All right, I'll tell you as much as I can."

"Why won't you tell me everything?" Tyson wondered.

"Because I love you, and I do not want you falling into my darkness," Kai responded. "I will only tell you as much as I possibly can."

"I want to know everything," Tyson argued.

"Please…Tyson," Kai begged. "Don't be so damn stubborn on me now."

"I don't think it's fair, I want to be told everything. I want to be by your side, I don't want you to go about this alone," Tyson said. Kai pulled away from Tyson, getting off the bed. Tyson wondered if he had pushed Kai too much, and Kai was now going to shut him out. Tyson bit his bottom lip, the older turning his back towards the younger, Kai walking over to the window, resting his palms on the windowsill, staring out. "Kai?"

Kai tilted his head to the side, seeing a mixture of concern and resistance in those blue eyes he would willingly drown in if it meant freedom. His resolve was slowly crumpling, so it didn't come as a surprise to him when he turned his head back to the outside with a sigh. Lifting his shirt ends up, he pulled the shirt over his head, letting it drop to the floor. Behind him, he heard Tyson gasp, feeling the eyes on his back.

"In the beginning with Tala injured, I took the brunt of all punishment. Of course…this wasn't started for a while. Tala and I managed while he healed, but when our grandfather thought Tala was well enough to receive his share of the burden, they split us up. The only time we ever saw each other was when grandfather wanted to play this little game," Kai said.

"Oh god…Kai…" Tyson felt tears well up in his eyes.

"The first time…it was worst. The mental abuse…it was like adding salt into bleeding wounds. It wasn't enough for my parents and grandfather to bring me down to my knees, they wanted more. Grandfather wanted me to be an obedient little doll, so to break my alliance with Tala. He tried breaking us with his little game. When I was reluctant to whip Tala, he only added more to what Tala had to receive. It was the same when it was my turn."

"Kai…" Tyson clambered off the bed, rushing to Kai. Wrapping his arms around the taller male's waist, Tyson placed kisses on Kai's back as if he could heal the light crisscross scars marring the skin. "I know I can't heal this with my kisses…but—"

"Thank you Tyson, I understand…now do you see why I can't tell you everything they did to me? I nearly lost my mind because of my parents and grandfather. Those years there, I had no control over anything. I was shoved deeper and deeper into darkness. If my grandfather hadn't died when he did…I fear there would have been nothing left of Tala or I," Kai breathed.

"You don't have to carry this alone now," Tyson exclaimed. "I'll be right here for you! I promise I will never leave you alone."

"Don't pity me, please don't Tyson." Kai turned around in Tyson's grasp, staring down into eyes which said anything but sympathy.

"Sympathize you, why would I?" Tyson questioned. "I know I just broke up with Ozuma, and now you're telling me this. But…now that I've had time to cry about it…I am not as broken up over him as I was. When I discovered you were alive, deep inside, a part of me knew that I was eventually going to return to you. I guess he saw it too, but because he never once discussed things with me, and just…did this, it makes me wonder just how much he loved me. It's not like with Kenny and Michael."

"Are you sure about this Tyson?" Kai leaned down and brushed his lips to Tyson's forehead.

"I'm yours, there's no mistaking it. Ozuma can go to hell for dumping me," Tyson huffed, listening to Kai laugh at the comment.

"Does this mean that you wouldn't mind if I ripped his legs from his body and shoved them up his ass?" Kai asked hopeful.

"As long as you give me front row seats to enjoy it," Tyson responded.

"Tyson, I don't know how many times I can say this before it's clear to the entire world. I love you," Kai smirked, leaning in to kiss his angel thoroughly. Pulling back, he wrapped his arms possessively around Tyson, nuzzling his face against the silky mass. His world was finally becoming whole again…he just hoped for this much for his cousin. After what happened, Tala was going to need Kenny more than life itself.

"If this much really happened to you both…I hope Kenny can come to a decision soon," Tyson replied, breaking through Kai's thoughts. "Kenny means everything to him, yet…Kenny's situation is different than mine. I don't regret being by your side for a second. I was happy when he found someone to open up to a little at a time, now I'm worried it's going to tear him apart."

"How about we go check on them?" Kai suggested. "I'm sure by now he's told Kenny the truth."

"All right." Tyson regrettably pulled away for those few minutes to allow Kai to put his shirt back on, the two of them heading down out the room and down the stairs. Peeping into the living room, the two found it empty; a sheet of pair drew their attention to a coffee table. Kai walked in, picking it up, discovering that Tala had drove Kenny back to his house. Tyson walked in, standing beside him. "What does it say?"

"Tala went to take Kenny home, he'll be back in a while," Kai relied, turning crimson eyes on Tyson, sweeping the younger with a long sensual look. "How about we go back to my room and waste some time while he's gone?"

Tyson flushed, shifting his eyes from Kai. "I…I don't think I'm ready to take that step yet…not after all this happening and you telling me—" Kai interrupted with a brief kiss, a warm smile resting in the corners of his mouth.

"Right now…I would take nothing more than to hold you close to my heart for now," Kai whispered, causing Tyson to blush crimson. "May I be given that opportunity?"

"When did you become this sweet?" Tyson asked, being drawn into Kai's arms. "I remember when you were the most devil-may-care individual to grace our town."

"When destiny decided to finally put us in alignment to each other," Kai said, moving back to the couch. "I think it was then."

"I see," Tyson smiled. "I'm glad destiny did."

"Me too."

Meanwhile as this went on, Kenny was trying to make the decision of his life as he stood in his room facing Tala who stared down at him with dark, pained eyes. Neither had said a word the entire trip back, in fact it was Tala who decided Kenny needed to go home. The brunette silently went along with it, for the moment Kenny's parents were out visiting friends, promising to return later that night, thus leaving the two alone in the house.

"Kenny…" Tala broke the silence between them, reaching out to run a hand gently across Kenny's cheek. "Hurry up and make up your mind."

Kenny averted his eyes, not knowing what to say. He loved Tala with the bottom of his heart, but he also felt as strongly for Michael for all the care he took in bringing him back from the edge. It wasn't that he owed Michael, the simple fact remained, he was in love with Michael and because of not wanting to let the other red head go, it conflicted with his needs and wants. He needed to be by Tala's side now because he doubted Tala would last if left to his own devices. He needed a loving hand to guide him back into the light that hand had to be Kenny's. No other person was ever going to bring Tala back on the edge like Michael had done for Kenny.

"I'll leave," Tala voiced. It was a bad idea to tell him the truth about everything. The conflict Tala saw torn his heart in half; it wasn't his intention to force Kenny to be his pillar in this manner. He wanted Kenny to freely return to his side without any hesitation or reserves. "When you make up your mind…I'll be around."

Tala made a move to leave when a hand reached out, gripping his shirt tail. Looking down, he found tearful blue eyes; tears slipping down the familiar crevices of Kenny's face. "I love you! I really do." Tala didn't hold his breath knowing there was more.

"But?"

"I love Michael too…" Kenny whispered lowering his eyes from Tala nevertheless he did not release his hold on Tala's shirt.

"I know you said you care for him," Tala replied.

"Then how can you ask me to make up my mind so easily?" Kenny wondered.

"I would choose you over anyone else in the world," Tala stated.

"You can't honestly say that when you've loved no one else but me," Kenny argued desperately. "How could you throw someone away that's carefully nurtured you so you could smile at the world again? Who has given so much to you…?"

"I'll never know what it's like because I can only love you in that way," Tala responded. "You will be the only person my heart will ache for. The world could end now, and you would be the only thing I gave a damn about. I might sound selfish, but what do you expect? After I've never been allowed once thing since my parents' death, I will greedily grasp my own little piece of happiness and never want to let it go. Without you, there's no point in surviving those years."

"Don't say that! You have plenty of worth in this world," Kenny exclaimed.

"Not without you," Tala shook his head. "Now that I've bared myself to you, I only have two choices Kenny. I can have you and learn to heal somehow, or I will be forced to remain without you, and god only knows what. Honestly Kenny, I can't take you saying you will be my light, but remain with him."

"I can't just dump him," Kenny said.

"Why not? Because you love him?" Tala shook his head, prying his shirt from Kenny's hand. "You can only love one of us. It's obvious that right now at least, it's him that you love just a little more than me. I know you love me…but I'm not willing to share with him anymore." Walking out the room, Tala felt the weight of this fall on his shoulders, burying him deeper into his grave. What now, he thought as he headed down the stairs as the doorbell rang.

What now indeed.

Opening the front door, he stopped seeing Michael standing there. How nice that God wanted to add insult to his already trampled heart. Michael blinked, finding Tala there. "Um…hi, I guess Kenny's home then since you're here."

"He's upstairs," Tala muttered, about to move past Michael when the red head placed a hand on his shoulder, looking concerned. "What?"

"Something up between you and Kenny? I know I'm your rival for him, but—" Michael started.

"He's yours now," Tala interrupted, admitting defeat openly. "I give him to you."

"You're giving him up?" Michael was shocked to say the least. Tala was someone he figured would never just give up without a last ditch effort. On the other hand those weary blue eyes held no hint of fight left in them. The resistance to give up what he rightfully thought was his was flushed completely out. "That doesn't sound like something you would do."

"I'm smart enough to realize it's useless to climb an avalanche," Tala remarked. "He loves us both, but I can see that he loves you more than me right now. Make him happy, or else I will come back and haunt you to your grave."

"I can't make him happy, Tala," Michael admitted with a partial smile. "You're the only person who can know when his soul is completely happy. I've learned to read him, but you know instinctively."

"It doesn't matter, he can't decide, so someone has to decide for him," Tala said.

"I think someone has to decide for the both of you. So, I'm dropping out the race, and leaving him to you," Michael announced.

"I don't need your charity," Tala glowered.

"It's not charity, or sympathy," Michael shook his head. "You know, he only realized how much he loved me after you came back. We were still taking baby steps."

"What are you getting at?" Tala side-glanced the other red head that leaned against the doorway, looking out at the street.

"He was afraid…he didn't know what to expect, he was afraid that when he went back to you, you would only disappear from him again. He wanted stability, he wanted reassurance he would never be alone again like what happened three years ago. I was able to mend his heart, but only you can heal the fear that came with you vanishing from his life so suddenly. We have similar traits, which put him at ease, but when he finally realizes it, he will need you and only you," Michael explained.

"Why are you telling me this? Why are you trying to help me instead of being happy that I've given him to you?" Tala questioned suspiciously. "You're here because you plan to tell him something that's going to make him either come back to me quickly or fall apart, aren't you?"

"You've caught me red handed." Michael rubbed the back of his neck. "I've been putting this off for a while, but I've finally got up enough courage to tell him."

"If you've been cheating on him—"

"It's not that. I would never do something like that," Michael shook his head. "Truth is…for a while now, I've been preparing to start my dream of playing pro baseball. I received a scholarship recently."

"But?" Tala pressed.

"But…it's out of state. I'll be moving to Michigan for a few years. I'm going to finish up this semester here, but transfer over next semester to begin classes," Michael said.

"What…" The two red heads jumped as they whirled around to find Kenny standing behind them. His wide eyes glued on Michael. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"Kenny, with everything going on, I just couldn't find the courage to bring it up. I didn't want you making a rash decision like following me," Michael voiced.

"You think it's rash to follow the person you love?" Kenny asked.

"No, I don't, but in this situation it is. I would be happy if you loved me enough to follow me, but do you really think it will make you happy weeks or even months down the road? We both know that you're scared to open yourself up to Tala. You're scared that he will only disappear again, leaving you in shambles. I want you to open yourself up again. Going to Michigan with me will only make you regret that," Michael said.

"How do you know? How can you say that?" Kenny shouted. "You made me smile again. You brought me back from the place I was in. You've cared for me even when I was unresponsive to everything else. I fell in love with you because you gave me my heart back."

"But your soul?" Michael wondered.

"What?" Kenny blinked.

"Have I given you your soul back? The part of you that no other person has seen besides Tala? I admit I've taken a glimpse, but only he knows the truth towards what's in your soul. I doubt I'm the right person to handle that," Michael said. "You and Tala belong together."

"I'd wait for you," Kenny said. "Just don't say that you're leaving with me like this."

"Excuse me, but as much as you two want to keep this soap going, I think I should pardon myself from it," Tala spoke up.

"No, you stay here with him," Michael ordered. "I told you already. I'm deciding for all active parties because if it's left up to the two of you, then this _soap_ would continue for the next year until you've exhausted yourselves that running each other around the table isn't possible. Tala, he needs you more than me, so take care of him for me, so I don't have to come back and haunt you for making him cry."

"How did I have the tables turned on me like this?" Tala frowned, though his heart thumped in his chest. He turned his eyes on Kenny who still stared at Michael, but he saw that maybe a part of his angel was resigned to follow the other red head's wishes.

"You don't question, you accept because in the end, things would turn out this way," Michael smiled, patting Tala on the shoulder, giving him a little push towards Kenny. "Now give him a shoulder to depend on, I can't do it anymore for him."

"Michael!" Kenny stepped forward, but Michael halted him with a look.

"No, you have what you need now," Michael corrected. "I'll see you around, I promise I'll come check up on you before I leave so we can keep in touch. It's been fun."

"And how are you going to take this?" Tala inquired of the red head.

"I can only move on and hope to find someone as great as you have Tala. Maybe one day we can have a few drinks. You're the kind of person I would like to get to know as a friend," Michael grinned. Tala narrowed his eyes at the cover the other was pulling for Kenny's sake. The bastard…they might have things in common, but when it came to feelings, at least Tala admitted how upfront he was. As noble as it was, Tala couldn't imagine the aftermath of doing that. There was only so much a man could take from a situation like this.

"Sure, you're buying though," Tala answered.

"All right, I'll buy then," Michael chuckled. "Take care of him."

"You don't have to tell me that, but…I will," Tala nodded.

"All right, then I'm off," Michael said. Pushing away from the door, Michael waved off the two, heading to his car. Letting out a sigh when he was in his car, he thought about what he just did and wondered if there really was someone out there that made his heart soar like Kenny had. Putting the key in the ignition of the car, he started the car. Taking it out of park, he maneuvered it away from the curb, driving away from his first real love. "Well Michael…Michigan is a brand new start let's see where it leads."

_**--oooooo--**_

Rim: I've actually finished this chapter and it stayed on point! Let's all thank listening to Incubus for this…though maybe it influenced me a little bit too much. Let's see if I can have the next chapter worked out by Friday. Now, on to finding something to do.


	29. Chapter 29

Rim: Well, we're finally at the end of the road. It's been a fun three years working on this piece, stressing out, going into a mental institution and such. Thanks for all the support that I've received all the way through this story. Chaco, B.T., and even you Silverm have all been very kind to me and I thank you for sticking it out with me my friends. I dedicate this last chapter to all the wonderful words and readers I've come across along the way.

_**-----------oooooo------------**_

"Kenny, are you listening to me?" Robert leaned on the long polished conference table, staring at the young man who was zoned out, staring at the walls of books on the bookshelves against each wall in the roomy, deep plush carpeted room. A short smile curled the corners of his mouth watching as the brunette's eyes came back into focus on him. Clear blue eyes blinked a few times, the thoughts fogging his eyes receding to the back of Kenny's mind. "Might I ask what perhaps you were thinking so intently about?"

"Huh…I wasn't…" Kenny started.

"Thinking so intently?" Robert said, finishing off Kenny's sentence. The brunette closed his mouth, leaning back in the white leather chair. The smile on Robert's face widened, finding Kenny pouting. "You have no reason to do that."

"Do what?"

"Pout," Robert commented.

"I'm not pouting," Kenny huffed. "I'm thinking."

"I thought you weren't thinking," Robert teased.

"You know, you keep that up and I'll run away, then you'll never get my submission for that magazine," Kenny warned. "I still don't know how you managed to get me to agree to write something for that magazine."

"There's a lot I can get you to do as your agent," Robert commented.

"Agent, Editor, Publisher, you do it all," Kenny chuckled, however he was grateful that his friend was deeply involved in his evolution as a writer. Without his friend's support to continue working on his novel, Kenny doubted he would have been able to get this far alone. Looking up at his friend, the smile on his face stretched even wider. "Thank you for it all, Robert."

"You don't have to thank me," Robert says. "And if you plan on thanking me anyway, why don't you pay me a little more attention when I'm trying to ask you about a book signing. You know the publishing company is eager to get you to support the business more by showing other young writers that they can make their dreams come to if they decide to step forward."

"So that's what this meeting we're about to have is all about," Kenny said, running a hand through his hair, leaning back in his seat. "I thought I told you that I don't want any publicity, just focusing on the book doing well is more than enough for me."

"You don't have to worry about the book doing well," Robert said.

"I always have to worry about the book," Kenny said, standing up from his chair.

"Where are you going, the meeting is in ten minutes," Robert questioned.

"You know what my answer is going to be about the book signing," Kenny said. "Tell everyone thanks for thinking about my popularity increasing, but it's not necessary. Maybe at a later time I will think about it. But right now, I'm fine with being unknown."

"Our humble author," Robert teased.

"It's not nice to tease me," Kenny remarked. "I might get the urge to run away and not finish the next story for that new magazine that's about to come out."

"You wouldn't do that. Oliver's looking forward to reading your latest short story. If you run away, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop him from hunting you down and dragging you back. Surely you don't want to have a _Misery_ type of incident occur, now would you?" Robert inquired as his friend shuddered at the thought of his green haired friend super gluing him to a chair to finish typing. "So, have you reached a verdict?"

"I don't like being super glued to anything, so I think I'll stay put," Kenny shuddered once again.

"Super glue this time? I swore he told me that he would use fillet knives, they are more effective in keeping your prey in one spot," Robert replied as the brunette slowly making his way from the conference table. Robert took notice, grinning wide. "What's the matter Kenny? Surely you aren't trying to escape. Will I have to call Oliver and tell him you're already trying to make a break for it?"

"You can tell him whatever you want as long as you don't know my whereabouts. So, you pick up the phone, it'll give me enough time to fly out to Las Vegas and change my identity," Kenny said, moving further away from the table.

"I shall," Robert said, watching Kenny walk out the room. Well, Robert supposed that if he gave the young author another year, he would be ready to show the world the person behind the heartfelt words which had already begun to win over people who had lost faith in many things. In the hall as Kenny headed outside the company building, he contemplated what Robert had said. He didn't care about the popularity, or putting his face out there for others.

Then again…

Kenny's phone decided to ring at that precise moment. Pulling out the phone, Kenny flipped it open, hitting the talk button before placing the phone to his ear. "Kenny speaking."

"Hey Chief, where are you?" Tyson's voice can through on the other end of the phone.

"I'm about to leave the publishing company, what's up, Ty?" Kenny asked, turning the corner to the elevator. Pressing the button once he reached it, the doors opened, and he walked in. Pressing the button to the first floor, he leaned against the wall.

"I was just about to head over to the bookstore on the south end. I need to pick up another psychology book for research on a paper I'm doing. The one that Professor Lashley loaned me referenced the book, and I thought I should check it out. I was calling to see if you wanted to hang out, if you weren't with Rei, Kane, or Robert," Tyson said.

"Hn…you didn't mention Tala, that's rare," Kenny commented.

"I don't need to mention Tala," Tyson stated.

"Oh, really?"

"I know if you were with Tala right now, you wouldn't answer the phone, isn't that correct cousin?" Kenny could hear the teasing on the other end of the phone, but he wasn't going to play into Tyson's game; too many times before they ended up having a conversation like this which had often made Kenny want to drown his cousin.

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation when we meet up," Kenny commented, as the elevator reached the first floor, the doors opening. Waving to the receptionist as he passed, Kenny pulled out the keys to the small two-door Saturn parked across the street. On the other end of the phone, Kenny heard his cousin whine at the lack of cooperation in his teasing.

"You won't let me have any fun will you?" Tyson questioned.

"Do I ever?" Kenny wondered. "I'll talk to you when I get there, will you be outside waiting or inside?"

"Outside you killjoy," Tyson said. "I'll see you when you get here."

"All right," Kenny said, hanging up the phone. Placing the phone back in his pocket, Kenny walked across the street to his car. He had been lucky to get such a good deal on it…well he suppose he had Tala to thank for watching out for him when it came to customers at his shop that were in the process of trying to sell used cars. "I should make a note to call him later…"

_**--------oooo---------**_

"You certainly took your time to get here, didn't you?" Tyson said, leaning against the wall near the opening of the Barnes & Nobles bookstore. Pushing away from the building, Tyson walked up to his cousin with a wide smile. "Perhaps you stopped off to see you know who before coming over here. Then again, we would never have seen you again, would we?"

"You're starting far quicker than I would have expected, Tyson," Kenny commented, giving his cousin a stare. "What's the occasion?"

"Oh, come now Kenny, do I need an occasion to tease you?" Tyson inquired, placing an arm around his cousin's shoulder and leading him towards the entrance of the bookstore. Kenny gave Tyson a suspicious stare before he decided that maybe he didn't want to know. His cousin was in too good of a mood which he could probably attribute to something Kai related.

"So, what has Kai done now?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're in too good a mood today," Kenny pointed out. "So, what's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about you being on cloud nine? Kai pops into mind. So, what has he done, or said, or given you that you're walking with wings today."

"You know, if you and Tala spent more time together, you would be as happy as I am," Tyson shook his head as they entered the bookstore. "In the past two weeks, how many times have you two seen each other with you holing yourself up at your parents' place?"

"I've been busy, I'm sure he's been busy too. I talked to him the day before yesterday for a while. Everything is fine," Kenny shrugged.

"You two are like old maids," Tyson sighed, shaking his head. "You two were meant together, yet since you got back together two years ago…it's like you're taking the smallest possible steps in the world. I can understand that some of that time you were finishing your book, and attending school, but now that you've completed your novel, you two…"

"It's not like with you and Kai," Kenny said, moving from his cousin's side to go over to where a book display was. A short small rose to his lips seeing the glossy cover with the title printed on the front. Running a hand over the cool surface, he felt a swell of satisfaction bubble up at what he was able to accomplish.

"You're caressing that book like you should be doing to, a certain someone we know," Tyson said, walking up beside the brunette.

"Hn…shut up," Kenny said.

"Fine, I'm just trying to tell you that I'm sure your boyfriend would appreciate the caresses you're giving that book," Tyson stated. Kenny would have said something if it wasn't for a young girl wandering over to the display where the two were. Her bright blue eyes studied the two before producing a large grin.

"I didn't think many guys around here would want to read this book, but it's such a good book! I remember when it first came out last year. My friends and I were going to pass it over, but then we read the back of the book and it reached out to us. We each brought a copy and finished it in a week. I love it so much I've read it ten times by now. It's my favorite book and I recommend it completely," the girl chimed.

"What did you like about it so much that you read it ten times?" Tyson said.

"What's not to like about it! The characters are so complex and compelling. The story is well written and the details are well thought out. When you're reading the story, you feel like you're part of the story. I cried when I learned about Xander's past. It was so touching. I would love to meet the author to ask how they created such a believable story," the girl said. "It's a shame the author doesn't do book signings. I wonder what they're like."

"I heard a young man in his early twenties wrote the book," Tyson said, as Kenny gave him a quick glare lucky the girl didn't notice.

"I heard it's a woman that's writing under a pseudo name. What guy would write a book like this, besides a gay guy, which would be understandable considering the characters?" the girl thought. "I wish the author would do book signings and stuff though. There's so much I would like to ask and tell them. I never thought a book could make me see things so differently."

"Maybe one day," Tyson said.

"Tyson, don't you have that book to buy for your paper," Kenny reminded, moving away from the book display.

"Huh? Oh yeah, right Chief!" Tyson said. Turning to the girl, he grinned wider. "You know, I'm sure that the author of this book appreciates your dedication. If you continue to loyally support them, they just might see that it's inevitable to have a signing to show they really care about the voices of those whose lives have been changed by that book."

"Tyson, come on," Kenny urged, heading down another aisle.

"All right Chief, I'm coming," Tyson said, following after his cousin who was in the middle of the aisle. Walking up to the brunette, he shook his head. "You know, maybe you should give a book signing a thought. You have so many loyal fans."

"You sound like Robert," Kenny said.

"He's been worrying you about doing book signings and getting your face out there again? I agree with him, you should do it. You would make a lot of girls out there happy. More people respect your book than there are close minded individuals who haven't brought themselves forward to live in a world that isn't so bothered by the fact we're gay. What's stopping you from doing it? Your book is already number 20 on the bestsellers list. In a few more months, you'll be in the top ten, everyone knows it. What are you holding back for?" Tyson questioned.

"Ty, to be honest…I don't know. It's just that…since two years ago with everything going on, I lost my way a little. I still wanted to write my book. I still wanted people to know the truth that this world could at times ruthlessly stain your soul. I guess…the support that I lost…it affected me more than I know." Kenny lowered his eyes to a shelf of books.

"You still miss Michael…don't you?" Tyson knew there was still a part of his cousin that resented letting go of Michael so easily. When Tyson had learned about the decision Michael ultimately made, he both respected the red head more, and worried what it would do to the parties involved. It was obvious from the time that Michael left to fulfill his dream of playing pro baseball, it would take a while for Kenny to get over him. Everyone figured Tala would be all he needed in the long run, but so far…

"I keep waking up and thinking he'll be here, but…it's getting easier."

"Don't lie to me or yourself Kenny. If you miss him still, you can tell me," Tyson scoffed. "You loved him, he loved you, and you decided to choose between someone you previously loved with someone you currently loved."

"I didn't choose…I couldn't choose," Kenny shook his head. "Michael made the decision for everyone involved. He didn't give me a chance to make the choice."

"Because you would have chose him?" Tyson clasped his hands behind his head, looking at the top shelf of books on the wall. His eyes roamed lazily over the titles. "Tell me, if he came back now and said he couldn't live without you, would you back up everything now and leave with him?"

"What?" Kenny blinked, turning his attention to his cousin.

"If he came back and said he couldn't live without you, would you leave with him?" Tyson repeated.

"But he's not going to," Kenny stated.

"That doesn't matter, just answer the question. Would you?"

"Maybe about a year and a half ago, I would have given up everything…I would have followed him," Kenny said softly.

"And now?" Tyson questioned.

"And now…no…" Kenny shook his head.

"Why not now?" Tyson shifted his vision to his cousin, seeing the warm smile tug at the corners of his lips. "Why wouldn't you follow him now? If you still miss him and are still in love with him, why wouldn't you pack up and leave to be with him? What makes it different now?"

"Tala," Kenny answered immediately. "I couldn't possibly leave him now. We've worked through so much together…his nightmares don't come as often as they did. He's more at peace now. I would never be able to leave behind what we've matured into. So…I would have to choose Tala now, over the love that I have…no, I had for Michael."

"Can I ask you something?" Tyson wondered.

"You've asked me plenty by now," Kenny remarked. "I don't mind."

"Do you really need his support now? Do you still believe that you need him to support you from falling?"

"No…" Kenny replied.

"Then tell me, why are you holding back?" Kenny opened his mouth to speak, however he end up closing it. Tyson took notice, reaching over to ruffle the brunette's hair. "Sometimes, I have to remember, for someone so smart you have your dumb moments. You have all the support you will ever need in front of you. So stop trying to blindfold yourself."

"Thanks Ty," Kenny smiled.

"No problems, let's go find that book I need now," Tyson beamed, leading his cousin to where the psychology books were. The two cousins didn't have much to say while Tyson searched for his book, Kenny took the time to think about the short conversation he just finished having. There was a lot that he hadn't bothered to think about, and a lot that he chose not to think about when it came to these past two years. In another year, he would be earning his Bachelor's in English, following two more years in order to earn a Masters. By the time he finished, he wondered if this indecision in his heart would be gone. Would he be able to meet up with Michael again, look him in the eye, and tell him that he had made the right choice in allowing this decision to go on? That he was glad for the way things had turned out?

"Hey, Kenny, come back to Earth," Tyson said, snapping his fingers in front of his cousin as he took the bag with his book in it from the cashier. Saying a quick thanks to the woman, he pushed along his cousin. "What are you thinking about so intensely?"

"Nothing really," Kenny shrugged, allowing himself to be led towards the exit.

"I'm beginning to worry about you," Tyson frowned.

"I'm fine, so what do you plan to do now that you have your book?" Kenny said, changing the subject. "Do you need a ride anywhere? Back to your dad's place or somewhere else?"

"Don't worry about me, Kai told me to call him when I was done here. He and I were planning to see a movie," Tyson beamed.

"That's money wasted, we both know that you're going to be more into feeling each other up than watching the movie. Just make sure there are no kids around, we don't need their impressionable your minds becoming corrupt, just so you can have future psychiatric clients," Kenny voiced. Tyson's smile faded into a neutral expression as he narrowed his eyes at his cousin. Kenny chuckled, making his way towards his car. "What? Don't like being on the other side of the teasing, do you now?"

"You'll be a future psychiatric patient if you don't leave me alone," Tyson threatened. "Where are you going anyway?"

"Walling myself back up at my parents place," Kenny said.

"Don't plan to return home any time soon, eh?" Tyson questioned, making reference to the fact that both of them had in fact moved in with Tala and Kai last year. It was also around that time the two finally let their family in on the factor that they were both gay, and involved with the two young men which had showed up again in their lives after that one faithful summer. Kenny had been surprised at how easy his mother had taken the news in stride, welcoming Kai and Tala as part of the family. It had taken his father a while to accept his son would never fall in love with a woman and get married, or one day having children. In truth Kenny knew his father was still learning to deal with it, wherein his mother was happy he was happy, which for now was enough for him.

"I still have work to do," Kenny said.

"His thing is going to wilt and fall off," Tyson commented.

"…" Kenny said nothing, only being able to give his cousin an incredulous gaze at what his cousin just said. Sure Tyson could be tactless, but that tactless never calculated in his head.

"What? It's true," Tyson said. "It's going to fall off if you don't let him put it to use soon."

"I'm just going back to my parents' place now. You have fun with your movie," Kenny said.

"Oh, don't like to be teased when you've teased someone else, eh?" Tyson countered.

"I'm going back to my parents' place now," Kenny repeated, ignoring his cousin's teasing. "Remember what I said."

"You remember what I said," Tyson laughed. "And I'll remember what you said."

"How about if I say no?" Kenny tilted his head to the side.

"Then I'll say no too," Tyson announced. "So have a safe trip."

"No wonder he would have kept us apart," Kenny declared.

"I love you too."

_**---------oooo---------**_

Kenny closed the front door to his parents' house. "Mom, I'm back from my meeting!" Listening for sounds from the kitchen, footsteps approached from the den. Turning his attention towards the approaching sound, he found his father walking towards him. The man stopped a few feet short of his son. Kenny shifted ever so slightly, waiting for his father to say something, rather than giving him such a slow study of what the brunette could figure was concern. Eventually, his father cleared his throat.

"You have company," Kenny's father announced.

"Who is it?" Kenny frowned slightly, having no earthly idea who could be waiting for him without first calling to check to find out where he was.

"Your…" Kenny's father trailed off, a slight tinge of red stinging his neck and face as he looked away, slightly uncomfortable with saying the word boyfriend when it came to his son.

"Oh, it's Tala. I wonder what he's doing over here. How long has he been hanging around here waiting for me to come back?" Kenny said, ignoring his father's embarrassment. Eventually the older male would be able to handle this unexpected exposure to his son's life, and perhaps even not be bother with the fact he was gay.

"Almost two hours," his father said. "Your mother told him that you were out with Robert, and he said he would wait around to talk to you whenever you came back."

"I wonder about what," Kenny said, continuing to frown. "Well, I guess I'll go see what he wants to talk about then." Kenny made a move to head for the stairs however his father rested a hesitant hand on his shoulder, stopping the slightly shorter young man. Turning his attention to his father, Kenny saw indecision flickering in his father's eyes.

"Kenny…I…" The flush on the man's face expanded.

"Dad…it's okay if you're against it, but trying for the sake you don't want to hurt my feelings, but I want you to be honest with me and tell me the truth, even if it's harsh," Kenny voiced. "I'll appreciate that more in the long run than you forcing yourself to adjust to me being gay."

"No you're fine," Kenny's father said, reaching up to stroke Kenny's head. "Your mother and I talked it out a long time ago. We had our suspicions, but we wanted you to tell us when you were ready. I understand that he makes you happy. That's all, your mother and I have ever wanted for you. He changed you, but in a good way…I'm not as good with words as you are, but—"

"I'll make sure I won't regret the decisions that I have made," Kenny assured.

"I know you won't. You have many wonderful people that surround you," Kenny's father smiled, moving back to let Kenny continue along his destination. "Invite him to stay for dinner we should all get to know each other better."

"I'll ask him," Kenny nodded, heading up the stairs to his room. Opening the door once down the hall, Kenny found the red head sleep on his bed with a few pages of paper in his hand. Closing the door quietly and walking over, he leaned over the sleeping red head, gently prying the papers out of his hand, thinking Tala had become curious to a story Kenny was working on and decided to read some of his notes, nevertheless what he found almost seemed to stop his heart.

In his hand, he discovered was a letter addressed to him. His heart clenched in his chest reading about how life in Michigan was, the schools and sights, and how Michael was getting along now. His mouth curled upwards into a smile as he continued, Michael eventually coming around to ask about how things were with Kenny and Tala, and how sorry Michael was for not writing sooner. About how he was unable to bring himself to do so when he still loved Kenny so much. The silence Kenny had experienced in those two years since his other red head left parted; reconnecting Kenny to someone he still cared about no matter how much time slipped away.

"I was going to hide it from you when your mother said you had a letter from Michigan, but I knew you would have wanted to read it." Kenny jumped a foot hearing the silence of the room interrupted. Looking up from the letter, he found Tala watching him intensely, the blue of his eyes murky as the red head sat up, stretching. "I thought you would have reacted more than this."

"Why would you say that?" Kenny lowered the letter, sitting on the edge of the bed, Tala only shrugged. "Don't give me that, Tala. Why would you think I would have acted differently?"

"Because you still love him," Tala replied honestly.

"I love you too," Kenny argued.

"I know, but I know you wish you had made the decision two years ago rather than let him control all the strings. He was right, I can see into your soul, I know that you regret not trying to go with him to see where it led you, even if you would have eventually ended up miserable and came back to me," Tala murmured.

"It hurts you to know that, doesn't it?" Kenny placed the letter on the nightstand beside the bed, leaning against Tala's shoulder as the red head gently stroked his head. "You're not the only one who can see into a soul. I know yours so painfully well, even the darkness that's just a few steps backwards. I have learned more than any person ever wanted about what there is to fear and loathe. I don't regret going through those things for you Tala, even if I regret my own indecision two years ago."

"If he came back now would you—?" Tala started.

"I wouldn't so much as hesitant to remain at your side," Kenny interrupted.

"Liar," Tala chuckled slightly bitterly. "But I do appreciate you trying to make me feel better about it. He and I are pretty much the same. You can love either one of us, and it won't change for you."

"You're wrong Tala." Kenny tilted his head upwards, staring seriously at Tala. "It's not the same. It won't ever be the same. If he came back now, and said he couldn't live without me, I would not hesitate to tell him that I could never be with him. My heart is only yours now."

"Why?" That answered seemed to clear the darkness from the red head's eyes.

"Because we have overcame so much and have found a place where our indecisions and hesitations are no longer things that keep us apart. I can honestly say that the love I once had for him has grown into something of a fond memory of good times. Today, someone made me realize, I don't need his support to continue moving forward, you're all the support that I need to keep walking along my road. You're the only light I will ever need," Kenny remarked.

"Kenny," Tala breathed, closing his eyes and leaning in to kiss the brunette. Pulling back, he placed his forehead against Kenny's, opening his eyes. "Only you have this effect on me."

"I want to be the only person who will ever make you feel this way," Kenny said, watching a smile tug at the corners of Tala's mouth. Blue eyes took on a playful nature as a hand trailed the back of Kenny's nape, moving lower to his hip, where a hand tugged at Kenny. Getting the message, Kenny leveraged himself into Tala's lap, allowing his knees to brush against Tala's sides. Tala swooped down, claiming Kenny's mouth in a heated kiss; his teeth nipping at the brunette who moaned quietly.

"You drive me crazy," Tala whispered, roaming his hands under Kenny's shirt. His fingertips lit a slow fire in Kenny. "How could one person do this? How could one person make me need them so much?"

"Does it matter?" Kenny shuddered at the mouth licking a trail down to his collarbone. The mouth pulling away, allowing the hands to navigate the shirt he was wearing up and over Kenny's head and onto the floor. The mouth returned, kissing and mapping a path aimlessly over Kenny's now naked chest. "Just…continue to need me…"

"You leave me no choice," Tala said hoarsely, staring his boyfriend in the eyes. "When you look like this in front of me—"

"You do things to me too," Kenny said, leaning forward to capture Tala's mouth. The red head moaned his agreement at the move, giving up his role as dominator for the moment. When Kenny finally pulled back, to breathless to continue, he found a large smile on his boyfriend's face, causing him to laugh at the fact they were acting like two horny teenagers just discovering sex.

"I finally get to hear you laugh again. I missed that sound," Tala said, pecking Kenny lightly on the lips. "I think I might have to thank your ex for writing. The walls that have been up between us are finally coming down."

"You really think so?" Kenny asked, quirking his head to the side to stare at Tala.

"I do believe so. For a while, I would hate to say, but we've been old maids. My own cousin told me that my equipment was going to fall off if I didn't use it soon..." Tala paused in his sentence, his eyes lowering into slits of blue. "Remind me whenever your idiot cousin returns home to strangle him to death. He's influencing Kai with his harebrain remarks."

"For that remark, I'll allow it," Kenny shook his head. "He said the same thing to me while I was leaving the bookstore earlier."

"As long as I have your consent, I'm sure we can assure Kai it's okay to stop mourning that idiot's death," Tala thought, as Kenny laughed again. "You know, I really have missed that sound. How did we get to the point where it takes something like this to get us in a position like this?"

"You know, some of us being old maids had to deal with me working on my novel," Kenny pointed out.

"Hn…yes I know, but I know it's important to you. He's also proud that you're able to show the world your hard work over these few years," Tala replied.

"What…"

"It's on the third page, he talked about buying your book to support you and how he was glad that he stepped out of your life to be able to write from your soul…sorry I opened and read the thing. I just didn't want—"

"To lose me again," Kenny finished. "It's all right. I'm glad I didn't get that letter before I was able to sort some things out with myself and what I've been able to accomplish over these past two years. Maybe we can go visit him together now with a sound resolve on this end."

"Well, he does still owe me a few drinks," Tala thought.

"You two really would make great friends," Kenny shook his head.

"So tell me, where were you today?" Tala questioned.

"You want to talk about that while we're in a position like this?" Kenny gestured. "You really have turned into an old maid if you're going to allow your equipment to fall off while you have the opportunity to—"

Tala silenced the brunette with an abrupt kiss, all but sucking the breath from his lungs as Kenny pulled back panting. Tala licked his lips, going in for an all out attack as nipped and kissed the unmarred skin. Kenny gave a low cry when fingertips singed his skin with their heat whilst Tala made a go for his prize. Losing himself to the feeling of desire, Kenny eventually somehow found himself on his back wearing nothing but his underwear, his clothes strewn across the floor along with items of Tala's clothing.

"Tala…hang on," Kenny gasped, his back arching off the bed feeling Tala run a finger across his straining clothe need.

"I can't stop now, you're the one that taunted me into not acting like an old maid when I finally have an opportunity to spend some time with you," Tala murmured, leaning in to nuzzle his face against Kenny's neck.

"My father is downstairs," Kenny moaned quietly.

"I'll just have to do it slow then," Tala smirked, inching off Kenny's underwear, flinging them somewhere else within the room.

"Tala," Kenny flushed.

"Would you rather have me stop now and cuddle?" Tala questioned, pressing his body against Kenny's, sparks shooting between them as Kenny bit his lip to keep from being too loud. Tala's ragged breaths tickled Kenny's ear, but he was far to in need to be bothered by it. "If you say yes, I might have to kill your father and come back up here to satisfy myself with you."

"Dummy…kiss me so I don't moan too loud," Kenny panted.

"I knew you would see it my way," Tala smiled.

Doing as instructed, Tala linked his hands with his lover's as he solidified their need. Kenny closed his eyes, allowing himself to be lost in this act of not just passion and desire, but an act of finding each other again. Allowing their rhythm to draw them together in sync, their pulses throbbing, their breath quicken until they were too breathless to utter anything more but desperate whispers. The raw hunger between them urged them forward, captivating them in rapture so intense that when they finally went over the edge together, nothing else seemed to exist in their white hot world of emotion. When everything finally leveled itself out, they untangled themselves, however Tala wouldn't allow the brunette too far from his side, spooning the lush body against him.

"You still awake," Tala yawned, his arm languidly draped across Kenny's bare stomach. Kenny turned his head to look at his boyfriend who wore a mischievous grin. "You're a bad boy again."

"Shush you," Kenny scolded, snuggling closer to Tala. "Whose fault do you think it is that I just ended up doing that with my father downstairs?"

"Yours for being so damn sexy," Tala answered.

"You're impossible. And everyone wonder why I holed myself up here to get work done," Kenny shook his head.

"Speaking of, how is it going?" Tala questioned, dipping his head down to nibble at Kenny's neck.

"Fine, I've managed to get most of the short story complete for that new magazine that's coming out. Robert wants to get me as much exposure as a new popular writer as possible. He's still bugging me about giving in and doing book signings and interviews. I'm not ready for all that publicity…but…" Kenny trailed off.

"You would like to thank your fans personally for your book being on the bestsellers list. People are saying that in a few more months, you'll be in the top ten. You're doing well for your first book, I think you should do it," Tala advised.

"Will you be there to support me?" Kenny asked.

"Every step of the way," Tala assured. "There's nothing that will stop me from standing by your side, when you've stood by me through everything. I love you."

"I know…I love you too, Tala," Kenny smiled.

The two fell silent for a while, basking in the afterglow of their union. Tala eventually began drifting off into a sweet surrender where he knew nothing was going to be waiting to cage him. He had his angel there to make certain of that, now more positive than he ever had been before. Just when he was about to be fully submerged in his dreams, that angel's voice called him back to the land of the conscious. Blinking a few times, he stared down to find Kenny smiling up at him.

"Tala, were you sleeping?"

"I was almost there," Tala yawned. "Was there something you needed?"

"It was more like…a question I had," Kenny corrected. "If you were sleeping, I can ask it later."

"No, go ahead, besides, after this, I can just find another way to put myself to sleep." Tala put emphasis on the remark by pressing himself closer to Kenny who flushed pink, scolding at him softly.

"I wanted to ask you, do you remember what you told me about oleanders three years ago?" Kenny wondered. "Even now, do you still remember it?"

"Yes, I do. I told you love is the most powerful and deadly poison in the entire world. That it can heal someone and supposedly it's beautiful, but it's the most powerful death when it comes in contact with people. That it was like an oleander because we don't truly understand why we nurture it if it causes so much harm. Why we take a chance each time to plant it where people are around. And maybe it's because humans hold some hope we can cultivate it without the consequences," Tala answered.

"And remember what I said?"

"Love may seem like an oleander, but you were certain that if handled with care, it wouldn't slowly kill you when you touched it or took it in. And only the foolish would abuse something so wonderful and eradicate those around them. It made me realize just how much I was in love with you, but I still fought it even then," Tala spoke. "Why are you asking me this now?"

"Do you still believe that love is like an oleander?" Kenny wondered.

"In some ways, I do, but what you told me allowed me to change my thoughts towards how deadly love can be," Tala replied.

"You were wrong," Kenny announced.

"I was?"

"Love…especially the love we have is so far from an oleander, that the summer we spent together was a prelude to what we would eventually find. That oleander was just a ruse summer played on both of us," Kenny commented.

"Then what is our love like?" Tala inquired.

"Astrum. Our love has become such," Kenny declared.

"Run that by me again." Tala blinked while quirking a brow down at his boyfriend who gave a short laugh. "Seriously honey, you're going to have to run that by the dummy again. So our love has become what now?"

"Astrum, it's Latin, or in simpler translations star," Kenny articulated.

"Ah, I see. So our love is like a star now. I'm not following, but okay," Tala voiced. "Teacher, I think I'm going to need you to give me my hooked on phonics back."

"Dummy," Kenny rolled his eyes, with a smile. "All right, since you're not following the bread crumbs, I'll Google you a map. Our love is like a Fall star represented by a flower that blooms in the late summer and in the fall. That flower is an aster, derived from Astrum because of the star shaped of the flower itself."

"So, our love is an aster now, and not like oleanders now?" Tala inquired.

"Exactly," Kenny nodded. "Our beautiful Fall star that blooms brilliantly when all obstacles have withered away. The thorns which kept us apart…are the oleanders that falsely represented such a strong love which has taken us this long to cultivate."

"No wonder you're so popular with the female population of the world. When you say things like that, I want to place everything whole heartedly into those words," Tala simpered.

"Then do it. It's time to allow our summer oleanders die. We can let our love mature into those strong stars which will only grow closer with time when everything else is ceases to bloom," Kenny said, turning to wrap his arms around Tala's neck, drawing his boyfriend closer.

"I'll remind you to add that into your next book."

"How do you know I'm writing a second book?" Kenny blinked, as Tala grinned.

"Because you have to let the world see that there's no amount of pain which will wipe away the strength that has been given to us as we walk together once again in the light," Tala answered, drawing Kenny even closer to him. A silent promise between them that the road which they have travelled will remain clear and brilliant as those stars which symbolized everything just one summer of whirlwind events brought two unlikely flowers seeking to bloom.

_**-------------oooooo--------------**_

Rim: Thanks everyone for reading this story. I don't have much to say, but thanks for all the support. It's been such a long road that we have travelled together. I really hope to see most of you again in another story. Now we shall move back towards Dear Teacher, and just maybe…I'll have time for a certain birthday story extension someone talked about. Thanks for everything everyone!


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